Trans charity tells self-harming children ‘to use clean razor blades'
A transgender charity allegedly trained volunteers to advise self-harming children to use 'clean razor blades'.
LGBT Youth Scotland was reported to the charity regulator by a whistleblower who claims they were given 'shocking and callous' instructions on how to deal with young people who were intentionally harming themselves.
Instead of discouraging the children from hurting themselves, it is alleged that managers said that if they were arming themselves as a ' coping mechanism ', it would be wrong to 'take that away from them'.
Instead, volunteers were allegedly told 'we have to ask them if they are using clean razor blades'.
The whistleblower claimed that when they challenged the policy in 2023, they were 'dismissed' by managers who 'didn't see the issue' and defended self-harm as children 'might not have any other ways of coping'.
'I found this shocking and callous. I think it's reckless to suggest to a mentally ill young person that they should be using clean razor blades,' the whistleblower told The Times.
'This could easily be misunderstood as a sign of encouragement that they should be engaging in acts of self harm.
'Volunteers are not mental health professionals and should, in my opinion, not be asking people if they are using 'clean razors' to carry out acts of self-injury.'
The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) said it had 'engaged'with the charity as a result of the complaint around self-harm and that the organisation had 'reviewed' its policies.
A spokesman added: 'We have not needed to use our formal powers in this case and so are not required to publish a report.
'Following our engagement with the charity, it has amended its objects and purposes to be more accessible to the public and better reflect the requirements of charity law.
'Additionally, it has reviewed and updated key policies. We are satisfied with these actions in response to concerns and have concluded our inquiries.'
The 'concern' raised about its stance on self-harm was among 13 disclosed to The Times following a Freedom of Information request.
The remainder criticised LGBT Youth Scotland, which receives more than £1 million a year in taxpayer funding and is active in hundreds of Scottish schools, for its stance in support of puberty blockers and promotion of gender ideology.
Last year Rosie Millard, chairman of Children in Need, resigned amid reports she complained about £466,000 in grants being awarded to LGBT Youth Scotland whose former chief executive, James Rennie, was jailed for child sex offences 15 years ago.
LGBT Youth Scotland said it had been 'pleased to work with OSCR recently to confirm that LGBT Youth Scotland is operating within our governance framework and objects'.
It pointed out that the charity only provided direct service delivery to individuals 'in the 13-25 age range'. A spokesman added: 'We have never provided direct services to primary-aged pupils. Our work with primary schools has been focused exclusively on offering work-based training for staff to support inclusive environments for LGBT young people.'
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