Thread by @JamesEsses

I don’t tend to like threads. But, if you will kindly indulge me, this interview between @OwenJones84, @freddymcconnell and @Mermaids_Gender was so concerning and dangerous, I felt compelled to write one. (1/6)

https://twitter.com/owenjones84/status/1403323123093626882

1. Owen suggests we ignore the voices of detransitioners as they only make up 1% of those who have transitioned.

And yet this is the same man who calls for enforced conformity around use of pro-nouns, even though trans people themselves only make up 1% of UK population. (2/6)

2. Freddy states in relation to fertility: “You do not know as a child what you want to do when you do grow up”

And yet he is more than happy for young children to commence on medication - the physical, emotional and social impacts of which may be irreversible. (3/6)

3. Owen criticises organisations run by “cis” men. I take it therefore that he has no issue with organisations run by “trans” men. But I thought “cis” and “trans” men were one and the same?

This reads as just another attack on those who accept the bodies they were born in. (4/6)

4. Lui (from Mermaids) dismissed experts who sit on gender recognition panels, on the basis that they are “self-identified experts”. I thought self-identity was all that mattered? (5/6)

5. Finally, all of the panellists used language including:

“Assault”
“Attack”
“Throw the first punch”
“Fight”
“Emancipation”

This language is deeply divisive and dismissive, particularly of myself and my colleagues who are simply concerned about the wellbeing of children. (6/6)