Transgender Trend

Transgender Trend has stated there is no "evidence that children really are trans" and claims that "gender ideology" harms children. The Association for Women's Rights in Development describes the stance as "almost identical to religious fundamentalists".{{Cite news |last=Norris |first=Sian |date=30 September 2021 |title=The Far-Right Co-Option of the Transgender Rights Issue |work=Byline Times |url= https://bylinetimes.com/2021/09/30/the-far-right-co-option-of-the-transgender-rights-issue/ |access-date=9 October 2022}}{{Cite news |last=Hansford |first=Amelia |date=2 June 2022 |title=Founder of notorious anti-trans pressure group named in Queen's birthday honours |url= https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2022/06/02/queens-birthday-honours-transgender-trend/ |access-date=9 October 2022 |work=PinkNews}} Commentary on its website has warned that transgender children are being "groomed" and "brainwashed".{{Cite news |last=Strudwick |first=Patrick |date=26 April 2022 |title=How 'groomer', the dangerous new anti-LGBT slur from America, is taking hold in Britain |work=inews.co.uk |url= https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/groomer-new-lgbt-slur-incite-hatred-spark-violence-1585179 |access-date=9 October 2022}} It has also stated it believes that adults under 25 transitioning is "the next big scandal".{{Cite news |last=Dodds |first=Io |date=3 July 2022 |title=How two trans women ran a legendary underground surgical clinic in a rural barn |work=The Independent |location= London |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trans-history-underground-sugical-clinic-b2114777.html |access-date=9 October 2022}}

In September 2018, Davies-Arai told BuzzFeed News: "If the child comes out as trans I think it's really important that parents are informed". When asked about the effect of outing children she acknowledged that "some parents are abusive and bigoted", but added that "we have to assume that most parents have the best interests of their child at heart".

In 2022, an 18-year-old trans man reported Dr Az Hakeem, a psychiatrist who describes himself as "gender-critical", to the General Medical Council for practising conversion therapy on him when he was a patient at 17. He stated that when he came out, his mother began to research and fell into "very, very anti-trans circles," and contacted Transgender Trend for advice. A representative for the organization told her that "we share your misgivings" about his social transition. Transgender Trend had previously interviewed Hakeem, where he stated that "very black and white thinking… is characteristic of a Trans mind" and referred to the "psychopathology of the trans condition".{{Cite news |last=Strudwick |first=Patrick |date=22 May 2022 |title='Shocked and scared': Trans man speaks out over reporting psychiatrist for 'conversion therapy' |work=inews.co.uk |url= https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/trans-conversion-therapy-patient-speaks-out-psychiatrist-reported-1641330 |access-date=9 October 2022}}

Davies-Arai is also a clinical advisor to Genspect, an international gender-critical non-profit organisation which advocates against transgender rights and spreads contested claims about transgender healthcare.{{Cite news |last=Ferreira |first=Lou |date=22 March 2022 |title=NHS invited speakers with 'anti-trans' links to trans event |work=Open Democracy |url= https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/nhs-pulls-trans-conference-after-speakers-links-exposed/ |access-date=4 September 2022}}

Truthout stated: "Groups like Transgender Trend, an organization that campaigns against LGBT-inclusive relationship and sex education to schools (and was allowed to contribute to the Keira Bell case as an expert witness), are now refocusing on targeting trans health care for anyone under 25."{{Cite news |last=Greenesmith |first=Heron |date=28 February 2021 |title=Health Care for Trans Youth Is Under Attack in UK -- and It's Impacting the US |work=Truthout |url= https://truthout.org/articles/health-care-for-trans-youth-is-under-attack-in-uk-and-its-impacting-the-us/ |access-date=9 October 2022}}

Transgender Trend testified against the use of puberty blockers in Bell v Tavistock, a British court case on the question of whether they could be prescribed to minors.{{Cite news |last=Savage |first=Rachel |date=4 December 2020 |title=LGBT+ groups see surge in calls after UK court ruling on trans teens |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-lgbt-health-idUSKBN28E2UF |access-date=9 October 2022}}{{Cite news |date=2021-06-22 |title=Keira Bell: Puberty blockers give children options, Trust says |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57573428 |access-date=2025-01-20 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} Stephanie Davies-Arai said: "Children do not have the maturity or life experience to give informed consent to medical interventions with such devastating long-term consequences."

Transgender Trend raised thousands in online donations to send out "school resource packs" which claim it is better not to affirm transgender children. The resource pack advises schools to "be cautious" of respecting transgender students' right to dress or be referred to by their gender, avoid giving transgender students time off for medical appointments, and to sort children by their "biological sex" in physical education. The packet also advised teachers to tell transgender students' classmates that "you can’t actually change from a boy to a girl."{{Cite news |last=Duffy |first=Nick |date=11 May 2019 |title=Education magazine TES loses star columnist over transphobia row |language=en-GB |work=PinkNews |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/05/11/education-magazine-tes-loses-star-columnist-transphobia-row/ |access-date=9 October 2022 }}

The resource pack argues that gender dysphoria in children can be the result of "simple social contagion" via rapid-onset gender dysphoria. Rapid-onset gender dysphoria is not recognised by any major professional association as a valid mental health diagnosis, and according to MIT Technology Review, the study originally proposing it was "based on parent surveys recruited from explicitly anti-trans and trans-skeptical websites and forums", including Transgender Trend.{{Cite news |last=Kesslen |first=Ben |date=18 August 2022 |title=How the idea of a "transgender contagion" went viral—and caused untold harm |language=en |work=MIT Technology Review |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/08/18/1057135/transgender-contagion-gender-dysphoria/ |access-date=4 September 2022}}{{Cite news |last=Keating |first=Shannon |date=22 April 2019 |title=Gender Dysphoria Isn't A "Social Contagion," According To A New Study |language=en |work=BuzzFeed News |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/shannonkeating/rapid-onset-gender-dysphoria-flawed-methods-transgender |access-date=9 October 2022}}{{cite web |author=WPATH Global Board of Directors |date=4 September 2018 |title=WPATH Position on "Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD)" |url=https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/Public%20Policies/2018/9_Sept/WPATH%20Position%20on%20Rapid-Onset%20Gender%20Dysphoria_9-4-2018.pdf |publisher=World Professional Association for Transgender Health |access-date=30 May 2019 |archive-date=7 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607013840/https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/Public%20Policies/2018/9_Sept/WPATH%20Position%20on%20Rapid-Onset%20Gender%20Dysphoria_9-4-2018.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Stonewall described the guidance as "packed with factually inaccurate content". The Department of Education did not comment on the content of the guidance but confirmed they did not endorse or provide any funding to it.{{Cite news |last=Whittaker |first=Freddie |date=15 February 2018 |title=Schools urged to ignore 'dangerous' gender guidance |language=en-GB |work=schoolsweek.co.uk |url=https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-urged-to-ignore-dangerous-gender-guidance/ |access-date=9 October 2022}}

Transgender Trend was criticised for publishing downloadable stickers in September 2018 stating "Kids shouldn't be taught in school that they can choose to be a boy or a girl", "Is Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria the new anorexia?", and "Teenagers are coming out as transgender after social media binges", among others. Davies-Arai defended the stickers and stated that she had spoken to "about 10" trans people since Transgender Trend's launch in 2015.

BuzzFeed News stated that "Davies-Arai is not qualified in medicine, law, or teaching, and does not have professional experience working with trans people." Stonewall argued that the sticker campaign "contributes to an environment where the bullying of trans students can flourish".{{Cite news |last=Strudwick |first=Patrick |date=12 September 2018 |title=A Leading Trans-Critical Group Said Schools Should Out Trans Pupils To Their Parents |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/patrickstrudwick/trans-kids-should-be-outed-to-their-parents-says-a-group |access-date=4 September 2022}} Susie Green, CEO of Mermaids, stated: "If used in school they send a clear message to transgender students that their identity is not valid."{{Cite news |last=Robertson |first=Alix |date=10 September 2018 |title=Schools warned over new 'harmful' Transgender Trend stickers |work=schoolsweek.co.uk |url=https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-warned-over-new-harmful-transgender-trend-stickers/ |access-date=9 October 2022}} BuzzFeed News described them as distributing "anti-trans propaganda to schools as a neutral-sounding 'resource pack,' in a similar style to crisis pregnancy centers duping women seeking abortions".{{Cite news |last=Page |first=Morgan M. |date=9 July 2018 |title=Why Are Some Feminists In The UK Freaking Out About Trans Rights? |work=BuzzFeed News |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/morganmpage/why-are-some-feminists-in-the-uk-freaking-out-about-trans |access-date=9 October 2022}}

In February 2020, Davies-Arai spoke in the UK House of Commons in a parliamentary briefing arguing against Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) supportive of LGBT rights and identities that went into effect in September 2020. Davies-Arai argued that teaching gender identity would lead to abuse and adult men using girls' toilets. She appeared and argued alongside Lynda Rose, the director of an anti-abortion pressure group, who stated that "being subjected from age three to the messages that they can change their gender, if they want, and that they may be homosexual, because they have a best friend of the same sex{{nbsp}}[...] It's a social experiment, and it's abuse"; Ed Matyjaszek, who stated that "We are in danger of instituting via RSE a national grooming programme in primary schools"; and Judith Nemeth, head of the anti-LGBT Values Foundation. The briefing was organized by the Lords and Commons Family and Child Protection Group which had supported Section 28, legislature that banned schools from "promoting homosexuality". The House of Commons Trade Union, and ParliOUT, a workplace equality network for LGBT+ people in parliament, wrote a letter to the Houses of Commons and Lords opposing the event and asking if LGBT+ staff would be required to work at such events.{{Cite news |last=Wakefield |first=Lily |date=11 March 2020 |title=Anti-LGBT+ priest tells MPs that sex education leads to sex abuse and anal cancer, and no one stopped her |language=en-GB |work=PinkNews |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/03/11/anglican-priest-lynda-rose-lgbt-inclusive-sex-education-house-of-commons-anal-cancer-abuse/ |access-date=4 September 2022}}

The group says it is in favour of "sex-based rules where justified"{{cite news |last1=Somerville |first1=Ewan |title=Transgender guidelines for girls schools quietly scrapped by the equalities watchdog |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/09/transgender-guidelines-girls-schools-quietly-scrapped-equalities/ |work=The Telegraph |date=9 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916075051/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/09/transgender-guidelines-girls-schools-quietly-scrapped-equalities/ |archive-date=16 September 2021 |access-date=16 September 2021}} and says that LGBT rights groups such as Stonewall and Mermaids promote rigid gender roles by encouraging gender non-conforming children to "believe they might be trans".{{cite news |last1=Thomas |first1=Kim |title=What are the new rules for teaching identity in schools? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education-and-careers/2020/09/29/new-rules-teaching-identity-schools/ |work=The Telegraph |date=29 September 2020 |quote=As the number of children identifying as transgender has increased, schools have consulted trans charities such as Stonewall and Mermaids about how best to approach the topic. These charities have, however, come under criticism by campaigners, including Transgender Trend and Safe Schools Alliance, for reinforcing a rigid belief in gender roles, and for encouraging children who don't conform to gender stereotypes to believe they might be trans.}} The group is against prescribing puberty-blocking drugs or medical interventions to adolescents under 18, and has supported legal cases in pursuit of restricting such prescriptions or interventions.{{Cite news |last=Andersson |first=Jasmine |date=10 January 2020 |title=The medical, ethical, and legal complications surrounding the puberty blockers case |work=i |url=https://inews.co.uk/news/puberty-blockers-legal-case-experts-transgender-382047 |access-date=24 May 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Savage |first1=Rachel |title=REFILE-LGBT+ groups see surge in calls after UK court ruling on trans teens |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/britain-lgbt-health-idINL8N2IK4A0 |work=Reuters |date=4 December 2020}}

In April 2018, representatives from the University of Oxford, Oxford Brookes University, and the National Union of Students signed an open letter protesting an event that Woman's Place UK was holding which stated "A Woman's Place and groups speaking tonight, including Transgender Trend and Fair Play for Women, have been at the centre of this past year’s violent anti-transgender rhetoric and media abuse."{{Cite news |last=Glass |first=Jess |date=25 April 2018 |title=Exclusive: Anti-trans meeting sparks mass criticism and counter-protests from university groups |language=en-GB |work=Pink News |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/04/25/university-of-oxford-protest-transgender-feminism-womans-place/ |access-date=9 October 2022}}

In June 2022, Davies-Arai spoke at the "Sex, Gender and Schools" seminar at the University of Edinburgh. The co-chairs at the University of Edinburgh Staff Pride Network said that there was "no presentation of research data provided to the audience" and that the speakers used "scaremongering tactics" to propose that teachers should "question why a child might be expressing themselves in this way" instead of affirming their gender identity.{{Cite news |last=Ring |first=Ellie |date=16 June 2022 |title=Edinburgh LGBTQ+ officer claims university hosted 'highly transphobic' seminar |work=The Edinburgh Tab |url= https://thetab.com/uk/edinburgh/2022/06/16/edinburgh-lgbtq-officer-claims-university-hosted-highly-transphobic-seminar-77705 |access-date=4 September 2022}}

Approximately 8,000 women signed an open letter to Liz Truss stating "We are incredibly concerned that the language you have used is very similar to the anti-trans rhetoric used by transphobic hate groups and organisations such as Woman’s Place UK, Transgender Trend and the LGB Alliance" in response to her depiction of "trans rights as a new threat to cisgender women like ourselves".{{Cite news |last=Duffy |first=Nick |date=17 June 2020 |title=Thousands of cisgender women sign letter urging Liz Truss to shelve 'disturbing' rollback of trans rights |work=Pink News |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/06/17/liz-truss-gender-recognition-act-reform-cis-women-open-letter-trans-equality/ |access-date=9 October 2022}}

In 2022, Davies-Arai was awarded the British Empire Medal by Queen Elizabeth II, with the citation "Founder, Transgender Trend. For services to Children".{{cite web |title=The Queen's Birthday Honours 2022 |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1080317/birthday-honours-list-2022.csv/preview |website=GOV.UK |access-date=18 March 2023}} Citation text is in the downloadable .csv file.{{Cite news |title=Vindication for 'transphobic' gender-critical campaigner named in Queen's Birthday Honours list |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/06/01/vindication-transphobic-gender-critical-campaigner-named-queens/ |last=Rayner |first=Gordon |date=1 June 2022 |work=The Telegraph |location= London |access-date=2 June 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220601221111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/06/01/vindication-transphobic-gender-critical-campaigner-named-queens/ |archive-date=1 June 2022 }}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.transgendertrend.com/ Official website]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transgender Trend}}

Category:Advocacy groups in the United Kingdom

Category:Organisations that oppose transgender rights in the United Kingdom

Category:Organizations that oppose transgender rights