On 11th May, Pink News, an ‘LGBTQ+ news outlet’, ran their virtual ‘Trans+ Summit’.
For context, this is the same Pink News who has been forced to settle out of Court with both
Joanna Cherry MP and
Julie Bindel, after publishing libellous information about them.
This is the same Pink News, whose CEO, Benjamin Cohen, made the discriminatory
statement that:
“it’s unlikely that someone with gender critical views would be successful in being employed in Pink News”.
This is the same Pink News who published an
article criticising the government’s proposals to implement age blocks on pornographic sites, on the basis that it would take away from
“pleasure-focussed inclusivity”.
This is the same Pink News who launched an initiative with Snapchat, entitled
‘Pure Trans Joy’ - a series of videos with young ‘trans’ individuals showing off their scars following on from having ‘top surgery’. It was nothing other than glorifying bodily mutilation.
However, I digress…
The ‘Trans+ Summit’ was an event for businesses, charities and professionals. It was sponsored by
Ernst & Young (EY), one of the largest professional services organisations in the world, as well as
Publicis Groupe UK, a major advertising agency. Throughout the day, the sessions featured speakers from IBM, HSBC, Wickes and other well-known brands.
For my sins, I decided to listen to the entire 7-hour event. There is a
YouTube recording available. However, it is ‘unlisted’, meaning that it is impossible to search for it or find it, unless you already have a link. This, in and of itself, is telling. Why are Pink News wanting to keep this material out of the public spotlight if it is so important?
As I sat through it, the answer to that question became readily apparent.
From the very outset of the event, it was clear that open dialogue, debate or challenge were going to be off the table.
Attendees were told as part of ‘housekeeping’ that the entire purpose of the day was creating a
“safe space” and that there was to be
“no challenging of people’s lived experience”. If you cannot challenge ‘lived experience’, it means you are prohibited from challenging anything anyone says, because what else does one have other than…lived experience?!
The first session, the ‘Keynote Speech’, was delivered by Rico Jacob Chace, a Trustee of the ‘LGBT+ Consortium’ (I have previously written about concerns with this organisation
here).
Chace began by saying that
“hate and misinformation must stop”.
How refreshing, I thought. Of course, we should do away with both of those things.
I should have known better…
What followed from Chace’s lips was what could only be described as…hate and misinformation.
He told the audience:
“I personally hold the press and government responsible for the murder of trans people in the UK”. You cannot get more inflammatory than that.
He accused the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) of being
“transphobic”, all because they dared to advise that the definition of ‘sex’ in legislation should be clarified, and raised concerns about the implementation of ‘self-ID’.
He provided a statistic that
“1 in 3 employers won’t hire a trans person”. Of course, there was no reference provided for this ridiculous statistic, because…it is made up.
He finished up by blaming the problems of ‘trans people’ in society on
“colonialism” before providing a made-up anecdote about a
“non-binary Pharoah” being discovered in Ancient Egypt.
If this was the keynote speaker, I felt a sense of dread as to what was yet to come.
The next session of the day was entitled ‘Allyship for Managers with Global Butterflies’. ‘Global Butterflies’ is an organisation run by two ‘trans women’ who offer training and consultancy for businesses. The panel also included a speaker from ‘TC ICAP’, a London-based financial services firm.
We were told by one of the speakers that
“you know you’re being an ally when you’re doing things that make you feel uncomfortable”. Is it possible that the discomfort stems from being asked to go along with an ideology that runs completely counter to biological reality?
The panel offered a variety of
“counters”, which can be used to challenge employees who don’t want to share a toilet with someone of a different sex, before being told
“you’re doing trans whether you want to or not”. This felt threatening.
One of the ‘trans’ panellists even pretended to mock a woman raising a concern about shared toilets at work. He put on an over-the-top high-pitched voice, exclaiming:
“I don’t want to use the loo next to Colin”. This was disgusting to witness.
How on earth is a female employee feeling discomfort or unsafe at the prospect of a man sharing her bathroom able to speak out, when this is the message being handed down?
When asked what employers should do to help employees, one of the panellists provided an anecdote of an employer who bought an apartment for a ‘trans’ employee near work in order to keep them
“safe”. Safe from what exactly? The dust in the London Underground?
Another said that ‘trans women’ should be involved in workplace events relating to International Women’s Day and menopause. This rhetoric completely undermines the notion of what is means to be a woman, which, by the way, is a protected characteristic.
I was feeling horrified by what I had heard so far but felt the need to persevere.
The next session was entitled ‘Future of the Workplace - Preparing for Gen Z’. The panel was, as you might imagine, made up of young people from a range of organisations, including EY and Gendered Intelligence (I have previously written about the latter, including the residential camps they run, in which they facilitate children of opposite sexes sleeping in the same room).
Perhaps the youth of the day would have some sage advice and wisdom to share? Unfortunately, not.
One of the youths expressed excitement for a future in which there will be
“more queer people” and
“no more assumptions that anyone is ‘cis’”.
We were informed by one of the panel that is was
“really embarrassing” and
“cringe” when they once worked in a team with
“straight, white men from Essex”. What exactly is wrong with being straight? Or white? Or a man? Or from Essex?!
In the height of hypocrisy and inconsistency, the audience were told explicitly to
“not be offensive” when engaging with ‘trans people’ but that
“it’s okay if we offend people by being our authentic selves”.
What came next was possibly the most concerning session of the day - ‘Transition and Support Services’, hosted by Dr Jack Doyle from ‘MindOut’, an ‘LGBTQ’ mental health service based in Brighton.
Dr Doyle began by expressing discontent that UK gender clinics act as a ‘gatekeeper’ from ‘trans people’ getting the medication and surgery they desire.
He expressed support for systems which enable people to walk into a clinic and start on cross-sex hormones the very same day. This is particularly concerning for a medical professional to say, in light of the potentially irreversible and harmful ramifications of such hormones.
In an attempt at fearmongering, Dr Doyle claimed that ‘trans people’ have to
“wait over 20 years to have a first appointment with a gender clinic in the UK”. There was no reference for this statistic provided because, of course, it is a bareface lie. Waiting times are far too high and can unfortunately, sometimes stretch into years. But 20 years? No.
He went on accuse those professionals and governments who do not facilitate medical transition as handing down a
“death sentence” for ‘trans people’, before offering a selection of
“loopholes” in terms of how to get hormones anyway.
Most shocking of all was when he expressly recommended families and children getting in touch with Mermaids, an organisation currently being
investigated by the Charity Commission for safeguarding concerns.
Dr Doyle finished by blaming the infertility caused by cross-sex hormones on the
“lack of gamete storage” in the UK before recommending that workplaces arrange fundraisers for staff who want to medically transition.
I could not believe the words I was hearing from a supposed healthcare professional.
The penultimate session of the day was entitled ‘The Role of Senior Leaders in Trans+ Inclusion’. It featured Emily Hamilton, a ‘trans woman’ who is Director of ‘Trans in the City’.
This is the same Emily Hamilton who previously used a Nazi slur against me on Twitter, knowing full well I’m Jewish. During the talk, Hamilton said, in relation to ‘gender critical’ beliefs, that
“there is no room for those views in the new world” – an inherently discriminatory statement.
The panel also featured the Chief Operating Office of Wickes, the large home improvement retailer, Fraser Longden. Longden shockingly called anyone who disagrees with him on this topic
“bigots” before saying that they are
“not welcome in our stores anymore”. He also claimed that 90% of the population are
“just slightly ignorant”. These offensive, divisive and discriminatory remarks are an absolute outrage. I wonder how the majority of Wickes’ customers would feel, knowing its senior management holds them in such disdain?
Somehow, I made it through to the final session of the day, which was ‘Supporting Parents with Trans Non-Binary and Gender Diverse Family Members’. It featured a panel of parents of ‘trans children’ who work for a range of companies, including IBM and HSBC.
One of the parents said that she
“regrets crying” when her child
“came out as trans” and now realises that she should have been
“happy” about it. What sort of message does that send to concerned parents out there, fearful that their children have been encouraged down a path which may cause them irreversible harm?
Most concerning of all was a mother who shared her story of allowing her son to
“socially transition” at the age of just 6 years old.
God only knows how many employees were sent by their employers to attend this ‘training’.
Had the link to this video not been shared with me by a concerned attendee, I would never have even known of its existence.
This event claimed to be all about ‘inclusion’ and ‘diversity’. In reality, it was a front for lies, hatred, scaremongering, discriminatory statements and ideological indoctrination. All being facilitated and supported by some of the largest corporations in the country.
This cannot be allowed to continue.
