Latest news with #transactivists
Daily Mail
02-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Trendy Brighton beach spa is embroiled in woke row as organisers apologise for banning transgender women from all-female sauna event
A trendy Brighton beach sauna has today been accused of bowing to the ' woke mob' - and breaking the law - after it said it had been 'wrong' to ban transgender women from a women's event. Beach Box Spa organised a female-only steam room session last Thursday and told instagram followers that trans-women were excluded. The session was to allow female customers in swimwear to relax in a hot sauna without men present. But following a pile-on by trans activists, the south coast company has changed its mind and said banning transgender women had been 'wrong' and 'goes against everything we believe in'. The spa also has a note to its website declaring: 'At Beach Box we believe trans women are women and trans men are men' - despite the Supreme Court ruling otherwise for the purposes of the Equality Act in April. It has outraged many customers who claim it makes them feel unsafe and accused them of flouting women's rights. Some campaigners have even threatened legal action given because just six weeks ago the Supreme Court ruled trans women are legally male and trans men are legally female. One critic said: 'This self-flagellation over supporting women's right to safety, privacy and dignity is sickening'. Another follower was outraged for their 'trans siblings' and said it was 'disappointing' for a spa operating in Brighton, calling it a 'queer city' Another wrote that the sauna business had decided to 'alienate and offend women' rather than stand up to transgender women in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling on gender. A third critic said: 'Beach Box is nothing but a woman hating team! They don't think women should be afforded privacy or dignity! You make me sick'. A fourth said their claim to be 'fully inclusive' now 'simply excluded women who would wish to visit a single sex event. Their apology shows how little they care for women'. MailOnline has asked Beach Box Sauna Spa to comment. Its bosses have said they had been wrong to exclude trans-women from their all-women event last week. Staff may require further ' LGBTQ + inclusion training', the business has admitted, and they are launching a new 'queer sauna session', starting on Thursday this week. The row began when Beach Box advertised and women-only session on Instagram. In the comments a follower asked if transgender women could attend and the business said no, adding: 'This is for cis women'. It sparked a social media pile-on. Transgender news reader India Willoughby, a vocal critic of JK Rowling, shared the post and accused Beach Box Spa of 'excluding trans women from women's spaces'. Another critic said: 'I absolutely loved your saunas but your decision to exclude trans women is incredibly disappointing. 'Your business operates in a queer city. I won't be using a space that excludes my trans siblings. Please do better than this'. Beach Box Spa then issued a humbling apology. It said: 'We got it wrong and we are so incredibly sorry. 'At Beach Box, we've always aimed to create an inclusive, welcoming space for everyone-regardless of gender, identity, background or lived experience. 'But this week, we made a mistake that caused hurt and disappointment, particularly within our trans communities. 'We want to say, with sincerity - we are truly sorry. 'We now understand that promoting or hosting a cis-only event goes against everything we believe in. 'It was wrong, and we take full responsibility for the harm this has caused. One of our comments on Instagram added to that harm, and we deeply regret it. 'While we have undertaken LGBTQ+ inclusion training with the brilliant team, it's clear that we still have work to do. We are listening and learning and we know that being inclusive in intention isn't enough when the impact tells a different story. 'To those who have spoken up and shared how this made you feel, thank you. Your voices matter deeply to us, and we're committed to doing better, both now and in the long term. 'We want Beach Box to continue to be a space where everyone feels welcome and we'll keep doing the work to make sure it feels that way'. MailOnline revealed last week that LGBTQ acts have threatened to boycott the Download Festival after organisers followed the Supreme Court 's ruling and said trans men and women should use toilets according to their biological sex - not the gender they identify as. Trans pop-punk artist Noahfinnce says the decision will be put people 'in danger', declaring the decision means: 'My trans sisters have to risk outing themselves in the men's [toilets] '. The row has come to the attention of Harry Potter author and women's rights campaigner JK Rowling, who said of the complaints by trans artists and campaigners: 'Nothing short of women's total capitulation will be good enough for them'. The rock and metal festival held in Donington Park, Leicestershire, between June 13 and 15 will be attended by up to 130,000 people and will feature performances from Green Day, McFly, Korn and Weezer. The vast majority of the portaloos on site will still be gender neutral. Yet Noahfinnce threatened to quit claiming the decision is 'unsafe' - with some trans men and women vowing to defy the rules and use whatever toilet they want. 'I had a great time playing last year but will not be attending again if I have to queue up for the ladies' and my trans sisters have to risk outing themselves in the men's. All this does is put trans people in danger', the singer said. In a post on Twitter, Noahfinnce wrote: 'Hey @DownloadFest what the f**k are you doing? How have you got the gall to invite trans people like me to play your festival, then ban them from using the toilet? If the only way we can p*ss is by outing ourselves, then you've created an unsafe environment'. Manchester band Witch Fever said: 'The threat to trans people's safety by forcing them to enter toilets that are assigned to a gender that they don't associate with is a complete f***ing tragedy. We are hoping this decision gets changed'. American rock band Pinkshift then said on Instagram: 'Playing @downloadfest was fun last year but what f***ing music festival policies gendered bathrooms? 'Thanks Noahfinnce for being the only artist [we've] seen talk about this. If Download is part of your life, speak up. They think they can get away with discrimination in the year of 2025'. Download then issued a statement declaring that the 'Festival has always been and remains for everyone', adding: 'We want to reassure all of our customers that the majority of the toilets across the site are gender neutral'. Artist and campaigner Birdy Rose said that Download had done the right thing to offer single sex toilet facilities and gender neutral toilet facilities to be available to those who want to use them. But she added: 'This should have been a good and reasonable way to make everybody happy whilst also abiding by the law. Instead 'trans' activists seem to be having an absolute meltdown, claiming that this is 'immoral' and men should just ignore the law and enter the female spaces anyway.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The NHS must stop wasting our money on trans surgery
Following the earth-shattering news from the Supreme Court last month that women are female, not male, trans activists may fear that the tide is turning against them. Still, at least they can always count on the support of our beloved NHS. Because, as the Telegraph revealed on Sunday, the health service has spent £20million in three years on giving trans women (i.e., biological males) 'feminising genital surgery'. Which, for those not entirely up to speed with trans terminology, means removing their penises – and, in the words of our report, creating a 'canal' designed to 'imitate the vagina'. I have to admit to feeling somewhat puzzled by this news. According to the NHS website, 'Cosmetic surgery is not routinely provided on the NHS.' But isn't an operation to 'feminise' one's genitals a form of cosmetic surgery? After all, it's undertaken to alter the appearance of a person who is physically healthy. We all expect the NHS to operate if we happen to find an alarming growth. But I'm not sure that category should include the penis. An even bigger mystery, however, is as follows. For the past decade and more, trans activists have relentlessly, and very fiercely, informed us that 'trans women are women'. But if that's the case, then why should trans women require this surgery at all? The whole point of gender ideology is that you are whatever you say you are, regardless of your physical appearance. So if you say you're a woman, then you are a woman, and that's that – even if you have the genitals of a man. In which case, there is surely no need for the NHS to provide a trans woman with a biological woman's genitals – or at any rate, a rough approximation of them. In fact, the more I think about it, the more shocked I am that the impeccably progressive and inclusive NHS even offers such a thing. Because if its bosses truly believe that trans women are women, they should righteously refuse to carry out 'feminising genital surgery'. And in explanation, they should say: 'These operations insidiously reinforce the hateful, bigoted and outdated notion that people who have penises are men, and people who have vaginas are women. Which, as everyone except JK Rowling and a few fusty old judges now knows, is not true.' Or, to put it more simply: trans surgery is transphobic. Still, taxpayers can hardly be blamed if they're unsure what services their taxes entitle them to receive. Consider this other story, from Scotland. At the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh, sick children are given tutoring, provided by the Labour-run city council, so they don't fall behind with their education. Sounds great. But it seems that there's a catch. Your sick child will receive this tutoring free of charge only if he or she is enrolled at a state school. But if he or she is enrolled at an independent school, you have to pay for it yourself. The parents of one young patient couldn't understand this, so they complained to the city council. And, according to the Mail on Sunday, here's what the council's 'Head of Education (Inclusion)' said in reply. 'Unfortunately, as you have chosen to privately educate your son, he cannot be supported by this team,' she said – because 'you have effectively opted out of state-funded education'. Well, yes. I suppose they have. None the less, I can't help feeling that there's a tiny problem with this argument. After all, the parents in question haven't opted out of paying for 'state-funded' education, have they? The term 'state-funded' may seem to imply otherwise, but state education is actually funded by taxpayers. Such as these parents. So, having paid their taxes, these parents should surely be entitled to rely on state education the one time they happen to need it. If, however, they're to be denied it, it doesn't seem terribly reasonable to keep making them pay for it. In which case, I think it would be only fair to award them a tax rebate – equal to the exact value of the hospital tutoring sessions. Of course, if they do get that rebate, then every other private school parent in Edinburgh will want one as well. But the row is unlikely to end there. Because these parents may then start demanding a rebate for the entire cost of the state education that their children haven't received. They've 'opted out' of state schools, so they're 'opting out' of funding them. Which, in turn, will prompt calls to extend this exciting new approach to other areas of taxation. For example: allow those in paid employment to 'opt out' of funding benefits for the unemployed. Allow those who were born in this country to 'opt out' of funding hotels for asylum seekers. And allow those who use private healthcare to 'opt out' of funding the NHS. Then this last group, at least, would no longer be forced to foot the bill for all these trans surgeries. 'Way of the World' is a twice-weekly satirical look at the headlines while aiming to mock the absurdities of the modern world. It is published at 6am every Tuesday and Saturday Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
27-05-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
The NHS must stop wasting our money on trans surgery
Following the earth-shattering news from the Supreme Court last month that women are female, not male, trans activists may fear that the tide is turning against them. Still, at least they can always count on the support of our beloved NHS. Because, as the Telegraph revealed on Sunday, the health service has spent £20million in three years on giving trans women (i.e., biological males) 'feminising genital surgery'. Which, for those not entirely up to speed with trans terminology, means removing their penises – and, in the words of our report, creating a 'canal' designed to 'imitate the vagina'. I have to admit to feeling somewhat puzzled by this news. According to the NHS website, 'Cosmetic surgery is not routinely provided on the NHS.' But isn't an operation to 'feminise' one's genitals a form of cosmetic surgery? After all, it's undertaken to alter the appearance of a person who is physically healthy. We all expect the NHS to operate if we happen to find an alarming growth. But I'm not sure that category should include the penis. An even bigger mystery, however, is as follows. For the past decade and more, trans activists have relentlessly, and very fiercely, informed us that 'trans women are women'. But if that's the case, then why should trans women require this surgery at all? The whole point of gender ideology is that you are whatever you say you are, regardless of your physical appearance. So if you say you're a woman, then you are a woman, and that's that – even if you have the genitals of a man. In which case, there is surely no need for the NHS to provide a trans woman with a biological woman's genitals – or at any rate, a rough approximation of them. In fact, the more I think about it, the more shocked I am that the impeccably progressive and inclusive NHS even offers such a thing. Because if its bosses truly believe that trans women are women, they should righteously refuse to carry out 'feminising genital surgery'. And in explanation, they should say: 'These operations insidiously reinforce the hateful, bigoted and outdated notion that people who have penises are men, and people who have vaginas are women. Which, as everyone except JK Rowling and a few fusty old judges now knows, is not true.' Or, to put it more simply: trans surgery is transphobic. Another insult to private school parents Still, taxpayers can hardly be blamed if they're unsure what services their taxes entitle them to receive. Consider this other story, from Scotland. At the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh, sick children are given tutoring, provided by the Labour-run city council, so they don't fall behind with their education. Sounds great. But it seems that there's a catch. Your sick child will receive this tutoring free of charge only if he or she is enrolled at a state school. But if he or she is enrolled at an independent school, you have to pay for it yourself. The parents of one young patient couldn't understand this, so they complained to the city council. And, according to the Mail on Sunday, here's what the council's 'Head of Education (Inclusion)' said in reply. 'Unfortunately, as you have chosen to privately educate your son, he cannot be supported by this team,' she said – because 'you have effectively opted out of state-funded education'. Well, yes. I suppose they have. None the less, I can't help feeling that there's a tiny problem with this argument. After all, the parents in question haven't opted out of paying for 'state-funded' education, have they? The term 'state-funded' may seem to imply otherwise, but state education is actually funded by taxpayers. Such as these parents. So, having paid their taxes, these parents should surely be entitled to rely on state education the one time they happen to need it. If, however, they're to be denied it, it doesn't seem terribly reasonable to keep making them pay for it. In which case, I think it would be only fair to award them a tax rebate – equal to the exact value of the hospital tutoring sessions. Of course, if they do get that rebate, then every other private school parent in Edinburgh will want one as well. But the row is unlikely to end there. Because these parents may then start demanding a rebate for the entire cost of the state education that their children haven't received. They've 'opted out' of state schools, so they're 'opting out' of funding them. Which, in turn, will prompt calls to extend this exciting new approach to other areas of taxation. For example: allow those in paid employment to 'opt out' of funding benefits for the unemployed. Allow those who were born in this country to 'opt out' of funding hotels for asylum seekers. And allow those who use private healthcare to 'opt out' of funding the NHS. Then this last group, at least, would no longer be forced to foot the bill for all these trans surgeries. 'Way of the World' is a twice-weekly satirical look at the headlines while aiming to mock the absurdities of the modern world. It is published at 6am every Tuesday and Saturday
Telegraph
15-05-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
The NHS treating ‘trans' toddlers is a scandal
Anyone who has spent any significant time in the company of an infant will know that they are prone to declaring themselves to be dinosaurs, dogs, or any manner of outlandish things; nobody would take them at their word. They do not have the capacity or understanding of the world to know their place in it. That infant chatter might fit with the ideology of gender extremists, or the desire of certain parents for attention, does not make it any more meaningful. Yet the NHS has decided to water down its guidance in order to 'treat' nursery-age children who believe, or have been taught to believe, that they are transgender. The previous minimum age of seven – in itself far too young – has been scrapped in response to what a source describes as 'pressure' from trans activists, opening up children of nursery age to counselling and therapy. The original guidance, published in 2023, was clearly correct when it stated that 'an interest in clothes or toys of the opposite sex… is reasonably common behaviour in childhood'. Why, then, has it been altered? The numbers involved at the moment are small, with fewer than ten nursery aged children referred to gender clinics. When the 'treatment' can set a child on a pathway to medical intervention and potential sterilisation, however, any number greater than zero is a clear scandal. The prospect that dozens of children under the minimum age of seven may have been referred is no less worrying. If a parent presents an infant to the NHS insisting that they are in need of gender counselling, the role of the health service is to talk them out of their anxieties, rather than reinforce them.
Telegraph
14-05-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
‘Trans toddlers' allowed gender treatment on NHS
The NHS is treating nursery-age children who believe they are transgender after watering down its own guidance, The Telegraph can reveal. The health service was previously set to introduce a minimum age of seven for children to be seen by its specialist gender clinics, claiming anything less was 'just too young'. The limit was removed after the proposals were put out to consultation, with new guidance due to be published showing that children of any age are eligible. However, a source close to the consultation process said NHS England had 'caved to the pressure' of trans activists to remove the limits. The children are not given powerful drugs such as puberty blockers at the clinics, but are offered counselling and therapy along with their family. Up to 10 children of nursery age are being treated, according to new data, while as many as 157 children aged nine or younger have been referred to the clinics. Seven 'just too young' The NHS previously said that children under seven years old were 'just too young' to be considered to have gender dysphoria, citing an example of a young child taking a liking to toys or clothes typical of the opposite sex as normal. 'We know that showing an interest in clothes or toys of the opposite sex – or displaying behaviours more commonly associated with the opposite sex – is reasonably common behaviour in childhood and is usually not indicative of gender incongruence,' it said. That draft guidance, published in 2023, added that by seven years old, 'children may have more developed their cognitive, comprehension and communication skills to an extent that they will be able to engage with health professionals'. The guidance was drawn up after the Cass review into children's transgender services, led by the paediatrician Baroness Cass, found the NHS had been sending children on a one-way path to change gender at the Tavistock clinic. Doctors routinely prescribed puberty blockers despite a lack of evidence to support their safety and effectiveness, and instead of assessing for other conditions. The clinic was closed as a result and the NHS began opening more 'holistic' regional gender clinics as part of plans to move away from a 'medical model'. Last month, The Telegraph revealed that these plans included testing all children for neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and checking their mental health. The number of nursery-aged children referred to the new services is said to be 'fewer than 10', according to data released by the NHS under freedom of information laws. The exact number of under-fives was withheld in order to prevent them from being identified, but with 157 children under 10 waiting to be seen, it raises the prospect that dozens of under-sevens have been referred to the clinics as a result of the about-turn. NHS insists it is following Cass The NHS said it was following the Cass review's recommendation not to set an age limit and that any care for children aged under seven would be focused on family support and advice. The Cass review recommended that children who wanted to socially transition be seen as early as possible by medical professionals in order to identify and address any mental health concerns or neurodevelopmental conditions. The Government has also thrown its support behind the move, insisting it is following the recommendations of the review. Labour has been caught in the middle of controversies over transgender ideology. Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has indefinitely banned puberty blockers and pledged to ensure women-only spaces in NHS hospitals do not include trans women after the Supreme Court's ruling on biological sex. However, other Labour MPs have vocally opposed both of these decisions. The new guidance has raised fears that the new services could repeat mistakes made at the Tavistock, which was seeing three new children under seven each month until it was shut down. Helen Joyce, director of advocacy for human-rights charity Sex Matters, said: 'Research shows that pre-adolescent children who feel confused or distressed by the fact of their sex will usually grow out of this stage if they're sensitively supported, but not when they're encouraged to believe the unscientific notion that everyone has a 'gender identity' that may differ from their sex.' She added: 'The question for the new NHS hubs is whether they perpetuate the failed 'affirmation' model of the now-closed GIDS clinic, in which case parents should keep their children well away, or whether they offer genuinely holistic care based on evidence, not ideology. If the treatment does more harm than good, the length of the waiting list is irrelevant.' However, others said it was better for parents to talk to doctors rather than, for example, have teachers encourage the child to socially transition, such as by changing their name and dressing as the opposite sex for school. Stephanie Davies-Arai, director of Transgender Trend, said: 'Although it seems unbelievable that children under five are being referred to the new gender hubs, it was a recommendation of the Cass review that children are seen as early as possible. 'This makes sense because parents have been given such bad advice for so long, and may believe their child is 'transgender',' she said. 'Trans lobbyists have told parents that children know their 'gender identity' from age three and there is no harm in 'affirming' a child's identity. It is important that these parents can get proper information and sensible advice from the gender hubs rather than listening to activists.' The current child gender services are operated by London's Great Ormond Street Hospital, Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, and University Hospitals Bristol, with another service planned for the East of England later this year. So far, about 250 children have been seen by the new services, which are designed to see 25 patients a month each. The NHS plans to have seven or eight services operating across the country, which will allow it to see up to 200 new children per month, it is understood. Waiting list up 12pc in a year The waiting list stands at 6,225 as of the end of March, up by 12 per cent from 5,560 a year earlier, as demand has continued to rise. The average waiting time to be seen has also risen to more than two years, from 100 weeks to 116. Professor James Palmer, NHS medical director for specialised services, said children and their families 'can access mental health support if they need it' while on the waiting list. 'The NHS is now almost halfway through its planned expansion of regional services, and we are seeing significantly fewer referrals as children are first assessed by paediatric or mental health experts and provided with care in NHS services that are more appropriate to their needs,' he added. A Department of Health spokesman said: 'We are working with NHS England to reform children's gender services in line with the recommendations from the Cass review, to provide children with timely, holistic support. 'We've opened three new children and young people's gender services with a fourth anticipated to open later this spring. These new services will increase clinical capacity and reduce waiting times, so patients can be seen sooner and closer to home.'
