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[mxactivist]

UK petition: Sandyford Clinic [Scotland] to immediately continue to prescribe trans kids hormone blockers

[ Sign here ]

Following the Cass Review, trans kids are no longer able to receive puberty blocker prescriptions from Sandyford, Scotland's only gender identity clinic for under 18s. This is devastating news for trans kids who will now see their bodies change in ways that will trigger dysphoria. It will ultimately cost lives as trans kids are driven to suicide. All this will happen because of some despicable, manufactured "trans debate", where trans kids, and adults, are being used as a scapegoat for society's problems. Trans charities and advocate groups are condemning the awful Cass Review all over the country. The only groups celebrating this dreadful document are anti-trans ones. Hormone blockers have been used for decades safely, and the vast majority of trans kids that go on to transition are happy. A common argument against blockers is that trans kids are not old enough to make such decisions. This is exactly what puberty blockers are for; to hit the pause button on any irreversible changes; to give trans kids time to make these decisions. We urge Sandyford clinic to immediately resume providing trans kids with their life-saving puberty blockers.

[ Sign here ]

[mxactivist]

UK petition: Recognise nonbinary people's genders in law and in identity documents

It's that time again. There was no active UK parliament petition about nonbinary identities being recognised in law, so I made one.

The UK government has repeatedly acknowledged the existence of nonbinary people, but it has repeatedly refused to grant recognition in law and systems. Nonbinary genders should be recognised on: - Passports - GRCs - Marriage documents - Death certificates

[ Sign here ]

Deadline: 11 October 2024

Signatures: 54 of 100,000

See a graph: here

Who can sign:

Anyone living in the UK, regardless of citizenship

Anyone with UK citizenship, living anywhere in the world

No one else! Don't fake your postcode or whatever, it'll invalidate the petition

[mxactivist]

[ Masterpost ]

[mxactivist]

Monday 11th December 2023, 1am

We did it! I've just been counting up responses, and it looks like sometime yesterday evening we hit 144 complaints/comments in favour of Rose Noble and more excellent trans characters in Doctor Who! (We're actually up to 157 now, fantastic.)

So, my next plan is to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to the BBC sometime in the next few days, asking for complaints and compliments figures. Then I'd ideally (energy and time permitting) like to put together a press release that I can send out to the publications that promoted the tiny "144 anti-trans complaints" figure, showing them that there has been far more feedback in favour of trans representation than against.

I'll keep you posted.

Support the BBC for having a trans character in recent episodes of 'Doctor Who'

Apparently the BBC (UK) has had 144 complaints about a recent episode of Doctor Who because it contained an openly trans character.

I've made a complaint to the BBC that there weren't enough transgender characters in Doctor Who. I would love if 144 other people did the same thing. Here's the link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints/make-a-complaint/#/Complaint

(For your easy reference: "The Star Beast" aired on 25/11/2023 on BBC One, and the trans character is called Rose.)

Please note that the complaint form asks for your UK postcode, so only UK folks can join in with this - but if you suspect you might have any UK-based followers, maybe give us a reblog to boost the signal?

Edit: I'm told that you can fill in the form even if you're outside of the UK, because the BBC provide service to many countries other than the UK, including the USA! Go for it. :D

Reply to confirm that you've done it, so I can keep a count!

Here's my complaint:

I recommend:

Avoid sarcasm or irony. Assume your post will be taken literally. If you are clearly joking or being mean you will be ignored or misunderstood.

Include some gratitude/appreciation. It's pretty great that they included a trans woman in a positive way, and they should know that they have explicit support for that.

Edit again: I'm seeing some concerns in the replies/reblogs that the BBC might not distinguish between "less trans people, please" complaints and "more trans people, please" complaints. Rest assured, this is nothing to worry about - the BBC publish fortnightly complaint reports, and they do pay enough attention to know when a complaint is in favour of or against trans inclusion. In fact, their 20 November – 3 December 2023 report is where the various news articles are getting the 144 complaints figure; that report says there were precisely 144 complaints that they have categorised as "Anti-male / inappropriate inclusion of transgender character".

That means the next complaints fortnight window is 4 December - 17 December. We have 8 more days to beat 144. By my count, over Tumblr, WhatsApp, the Fediverse and Telegram, we have 85 so far, which is well over halfway there.

Also, when you've done it, please reply to confirm you have done it, so that I can count us!

Thank you, everyone!

[mxactivist]

Sunday 10th December 2023, 3:30pm

By my count there have now been at least 132 complaints or comments sent in, and that means we only have 13 left before we've sent in more than the anti-trans people have. :D

Support the BBC for having a trans character in recent episodes of 'Doctor Who'

Apparently the BBC (UK) has had 144 complaints about a recent episode of Doctor Who because it contained an openly trans character.

I've made a complaint to the BBC that there weren't enough transgender characters in Doctor Who. I would love if 144 other people did the same thing. Here's the link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints/make-a-complaint/#/Complaint

(For your easy reference: "The Star Beast" aired on 25/11/2023 on BBC One, and the trans character is called Rose.)

Please note that the complaint form asks for your UK postcode, so only UK folks can join in with this - but if you suspect you might have any UK-based followers, maybe give us a reblog to boost the signal?

Edit: I'm told that you can fill in the form even if you're outside of the UK, because the BBC provide service to many countries other than the UK, including the USA! Go for it. :D

Reply to confirm that you've done it, so I can keep a count!

Here's my complaint:

I recommend:

Avoid sarcasm or irony. Assume your post will be taken literally. If you are clearly joking or being mean you will be ignored or misunderstood.

Include some gratitude/appreciation. It's pretty great that they included a trans woman in a positive way, and they should know that they have explicit support for that.

Edit again: I'm seeing some concerns in the replies/reblogs that the BBC might not distinguish between "less trans people, please" complaints and "more trans people, please" complaints. Rest assured, this is nothing to worry about - the BBC publish fortnightly complaint reports, and they do pay enough attention to know when a complaint is in favour of or against trans inclusion. In fact, their 20 November – 3 December 2023 report is where the various news articles are getting the 144 complaints figure; that report says there were precisely 144 complaints that they have categorised as "Anti-male / inappropriate inclusion of transgender character".

That means the next complaints fortnight window is 4 December - 17 December. We have 8 more days to beat 144. By my count, over Tumblr, WhatsApp, the Fediverse and Telegram, we have 85 so far, which is well over halfway there.

Also, when you've done it, please reply to confirm you have done it, so that I can count us!

Thank you, everyone!

[mxactivist]

Saturday 9th December 2023, 2pm

I'm seeing some concerns in the replies/reblogs that the BBC might not distinguish between "less trans people, please" complaints and "more trans people, please" complaints. Rest assured, this is nothing to worry about - the BBC publish fortnightly complaint reports, and they do pay enough attention to know when a complaint is in favour of or against trans inclusion. In fact, their 20 November – 3 December 2023 report is where the various news articles are getting the 144 complaints figure; that report says there were precisely 144 complaints that they have categorised as "Anti-male / inappropriate inclusion of transgender character".

That means the next complaints fortnight window is 4 December - 17 December. We have 8 more days to beat 144. By my count, over Tumblr, WhatsApp, the Fediverse and Telegram, we have 85 so far, which is well over halfway there.

Also, when you've done it, please reply to confirm you have done it, so that I can count us!

Thank you, everyone!

Support the BBC for having a trans character in recent episodes of 'Doctor Who'

Apparently the BBC (UK) has had 144 complaints about a recent episode of Doctor Who because it contained an openly trans character.

I've made a complaint to the BBC that there weren't enough transgender characters in Doctor Who. I would love if 144 other people did the same thing. Here's the link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints/make-a-complaint/#/Complaint

(For your easy reference: "The Star Beast" aired on 25/11/2023 on BBC One, and the trans character is called Rose.)

Please note that the complaint form asks for your UK postcode, so only UK folks can join in with this - but if you suspect you might have any UK-based followers, maybe give us a reblog to boost the signal?

Edit: I'm told that you can fill in the form even if you're outside of the UK, because the BBC provide service to many countries other than the UK, including the USA! Go for it. :D

Reply when you've done it, so I can keep track of us!

Here's my complaint:

I recommend:

Avoid sarcasm or irony. Assume your post will be taken literally. If you are clearly joking or being mean you will be ignored or misunderstood.

Include some gratitude/appreciation. It's pretty great that they included a trans woman in a positive way, and they should know that they have explicit support for that.

[mxactivist]

In regards to your contact the BBC post about including more trans characters

It may be more beneficial to send in praise rather than a complaint.

They may be auto sorted, and getting a bunch of complaints with the word "trans" in them may actually make it look like MORE people are complaining. Better to play it safe.

You can send in praise at this link to contact the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/comments-feedback/#/Your%20comment

This is classic Tumblr uninformed concern-flapping. :D

The idea that there would be a complaints system with a textbox and that system would have no way to tell the difference between "more [thing], please" and "less [thing], please" is kind of understandable because so many things are automated and lazy these days. However, that's a stretch. This scenario would be absurd, the complaints system would be totally unfit for purpose.

But rest assured! The BBC publish fortnightly complaint reports, and they totally distinguish between contradictory/opposite things. In fact, the report for 20 November – 3 December 2023 is the source of the information that 144 people complained about a trans character in the episode, and they categorise it as "Anti-male / inappropriate inclusion of transgender character." (Gross.)

So yes, if you thought the amount of trans representation in "The Star Beast" episode of Doctor Who on BBC One on 25/11/2023 was enough, send positive feedback. If you want to entertain people and oppose TERFs by complaining that there weren't enough trans people in the episode, send a complaint. It will be counted correctly.

[ The blog post we're talking about ]

[mxactivist]

Yeah can we not fake an adress for the BBC complain form?

I remember That we send complains after Sherlock season 4, from all over the world. Complaining about the lack of queer characters btw

The BBC may have a way to detect and remove fake responses. For example, it would be super easy for them to collect IP addresses for each form response.

It'll work better if the responses are all earnest, polite and obviously authentic.

I have learned that you can make a complaint to the BBC using that form if you live outside of the UK - I made a mistake on the first draft of the blog post, which is the one that has gone viral!

So, if you live outside the UK, just use your real location details. And if you want to reblog, reblog the original post that has been edited to reflect correct info about who can complain.

Thanks everyone! :)

[ The post we're talking about ]

[mxactivist]

It turned out that actually you can totally participate even if you're not in the UK, because the BBC provides their services to a lot of non-UK places, and the form accommodates that! :)

So I edited the original post to reflect that, and if anyone has refrained from taking part because they're outside the UK - go for itttt (and then reblog the newly editted original post)

Support the BBC for having a trans character in recent episodes of 'Doctor Who'

Apparently the BBC (UK) has had 144 complaints about a recent episode of Doctor Who because it contained an openly trans character.

I've made a complaint to the BBC that there weren't enough transgender characters in Doctor Who. I would love if 144 other people did the same thing. Here's the link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints/make-a-complaint/#/Complaint

(For your easy reference: "The Star Beast" aired on 25/11/2023 on BBC One, and the trans character is called Rose.)

Please note that the complaint form asks for your UK postcode, so only UK folks can join in with this - but if you suspect you might have any UK-based followers, maybe give us a reblog to boost the signal?

Reply when you've done it, so I can keep track of us!

Here's my complaint:

I recommend:

Avoid sarcasm or irony. Assume your post will be taken literally. If you are clearly joking or being mean you will be ignored or misunderstood.

Include some gratitude/appreciation. It's pretty great that they included a trans woman in a positive way, and they should know that they have explicit support for that.

[mxactivist]

Support the BBC for having a trans character in recent episodes of 'Doctor Who'

Apparently the BBC (UK) has had 144 complaints about a recent episode of Doctor Who because it contained an openly trans character.

I've made a complaint to the BBC that there weren't enough transgender characters in Doctor Who. I would love if 144 other people did the same thing. Here's the link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints/make-a-complaint/#/Complaint

(For your easy reference: "The Star Beast" aired on 25/11/2023 on BBC One, and the trans character is called Rose.)

Please note that the complaint form asks for your UK postcode, so only UK folks can join in with this - but if you suspect you might have any UK-based followers, maybe give us a reblog to boost the signal?

Edit: I'm told that you can fill in the form even if you're outside of the UK, because the BBC provide service to many countries other than the UK, including the USA! Go for it. :D

Reply to confirm that you've done it, so I can keep a count!

Here's my complaint:

I recommend:

Avoid sarcasm or irony. Assume your post will be taken literally. If you are clearly joking or being mean you will be ignored or misunderstood.

Include some gratitude/appreciation. It's pretty great that they included a trans woman in a positive way, and they should know that they have explicit support for that.

~

Edit again: I'm seeing some concerns in the replies/reblogs that the BBC might not distinguish between "less trans people, please" complaints and "more trans people, please" complaints. Rest assured, this is nothing to worry about - the BBC publish fortnightly complaint reports, and they do pay enough attention to know when a complaint is in favour of or against trans inclusion. In fact, their 20 November – 3 December 2023 report is where the various news articles are getting the 144 complaints figure; that report says there were precisely 144 complaints that they have categorised as "Anti-male / inappropriate inclusion of transgender character".

That means the next complaints fortnight window is 4 December - 17 December. We have 8 more days to beat 144. By my count, over Tumblr, WhatsApp, the Fediverse and Telegram, we have 85 so far, which is well over halfway there.

Also, when you've done it, please reply to confirm you have done it, so that I can count us!

Thank you, everyone!

~

Edit, 2023-12-11, 1am UK time:

We did it! I've just been counting up responses, and it looks like sometime yesterday evening we hit 144 complaints/comments in favour of Rose Noble and more excellent trans characters in Doctor Who! (We're actually up to 157 now, fantastic.)

So, my next plan is to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to the BBC sometime in the next few days, asking for complaints and compliments figures. Then I'd ideally (energy and time permitting) like to put together a press release that I can send out to the publications that promoted the tiny "144 anti-trans complaints" figure, showing them that there has been far more feedback in favour of trans representation than against.

I'll keep you posted.

[mxactivist]

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE

I felt like doing some important research between annual surveys, and an offhand comment from @averixus prompted a Tournament. This will be the masterpost.

Me and @averixus chose the pairs in the first round using a random number generator on the top 32 pronoun sets from the Gender Census 2023 results.

Round 1

Poll 1: one/one/oneself vs. void/void/voidself

Poll 2: avoid pronouns vs. ze/zir/zirself

Poll 3: pup/pup/pupself vs. vamp/vamp/vampself

Poll 4: star/star/starself vs. thon/thon/thonself

Poll 5: bun/bun/bunself vs. xe/xem/xemself

Poll 6: mew/mew/mewself vs. ae/aer/aerself

Poll 7: xey/xem/xemself vs. they/them/themself

Poll 8: ve/ver/verself vs. ze/zem/zemself

Poll 9: e/em/emself vs. they/them/themselves

Poll 10: ne/nem/nemself vs. he/him/himself

Poll 11: kit/kit/kitself vs. rot/rot/rotself

Poll 12: fae/faer/faeself vs. ey/em/emself

Poll 13: hy/hym/hymself vs. hy/hymn/hymnself

Poll 14: she/her/herself vs. use name as pronoun

Poll 15: voi/void/voidself vs. bug/bug/bugself

Poll 16: it/it/itself vs. ze/hir/hirself

Round 2

Poll 1: one/one/oneself vs. avoid pronouns

Poll 2: vamp/vamp/vampself vs. star/star/starself

Poll 3: xe/xem/xemself vs. ae/aer/aerself

Poll 4: they/them/themself vs. ze/zem/zemself

Poll 5: they/them/themselves vs. he/him/himself

Poll 6: kit/kit/kitself vs. fae/faer/faeself

Poll 7: hy/hymn/hymnself vs. use name as pronoun

Poll 8: voi/void/voidself vs. it/it/itself

[mxactivist]

Best of luck and legal fortitude to Ryan Castellucci today

Ryan's in court against THE ENTIRE UK GOVERNMENT, fighting for the accurate records and documents to which they are already entitled under UK law!

They've got a good case and good lawyers, and if they win it could change EVERYTHING for nonbinary people in the UK. I cannot express how grateful I am that they're using their nerves of steel for this cause that is very important to me.

[Their costs are significant, so if you've got a spare couple of quid, their crowdfunder can be found here. Thank you!]

[mxactivist]

A couple of notes and links from the reblogs that might be helpful:

Here's a really helpful article about the consultation and some persuasive arguments you could include in your answers, from What The Trans!

Abigail Thorn outlines some excellent points on Trans Writes.

Someone rightly pointed out that it ends on Wednesday 1st November, not Tuesday!

Someone has very generously 🔥blazed🔥 the original post, so it's not currently editable, but I will edit these into the original post as soon as the 🔥blazing🔥 finishes.

[URGENT] UK NHS consultation on puberty blockers

VERY SHORT DEADLINE! (Tuesday 1st November 2023)

The UK's National Health Service (NHS) are about to ban puberty blockers for all trans adolescents, except for a small group who are eligible and willing to be research subjects.

"As part of this NHS England-led process, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) was commissioned to review the published evidence. Overall, there was no statistically significant difference in gender incongruence, mental health, body image and psychosocial functioning in children and adolescents treated with PSH." -- 6-page introductory PDF to consultation

That's because puberty blockers don't change gender characteristics by definition, you absolute donuts.

They're carrying out a consultation on this because they have to, and there's only two days left. If you are in the UK and you are a young trans person or know any young trans people, please check out this consultation.

Here's the first question, to help you work out if you're in the target group:

In "other", you could put anything like "friend of a trans adolescent", "family member of a trans child", etc. If you're a trans adult who was on blockers or who would have been on blockers if waiting lists had been shorter or family/doctors had been more supportive etc, choose "patient".

Click here to participate.

Deadline: Tuesday 1st November 2023.

[mxactivist]

[URGENT] UK NHS consultation on puberty blockers

VERY SHORT DEADLINE! (Wednesday 1st November 2023)

The UK's National Health Service (NHS) are about to ban puberty blockers for all trans adolescents, except for a small group who are eligible and willing to be research subjects.

"As part of this NHS England-led process, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) was commissioned to review the published evidence. Overall, there was no statistically significant difference in gender incongruence, mental health, body image and psychosocial functioning in children and adolescents treated with PSH." -- 6-page introductory PDF to consultation

That's because puberty blockers don't change gender characteristics by definition, you absolute donuts.

They're carrying out a consultation on this because they have to, and there's only two days left. If you are in the UK and you are a young trans person or know any young trans people, please check out this consultation.

Need help answering the questions? Here's a couple of handy links:

Here's a really helpful article about the consultation and some persuasive arguments you could include in your answers, from What The Trans!

Abigail Thorn outlines some excellent points on Trans Writes.

Mermaids, a UK charity supporting trans kids and their families, has a guide for responding to the consultation, too.

Here's the first question, to help you work out if you're in the target group:

In "other", you could put anything like "friend of a trans adolescent", "family member of a trans child", etc. If you're a trans adult who was on blockers or who would have been on blockers if waiting lists had been shorter or family/doctors had been more supportive etc, choose "patient".

Click here to participate.

Deadline: Wednesday 1st November 2023.

[mxactivist]

18th September 2023

I've also just submitted a new HMRC Freedom of Information request, following the successful one from last year.

New FOI request to DVLA pending

Following on from my successful request for records about the title Mx with the DVLA (UK government department for driving licences etc.) last year, I have started a new one this year. You can follow it here and get notified when the DVLA respond.

[mxactivist]

4th September 2023

The crowdfunding is still open - go donate!

UK nonbinary legal recognition court case

Help support the court case by reblogging this post and/or contributing to the crowdfund!

Ryan Castellucci, who is nonbinary, has issued legal proceedings against the Gender Recognition Panel (GRP) and the Secretary of State for Justice arguing that the GRP breached its statutory duty to issue a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) in terms which record Ryan’s acquired gender as nonbinary, and has instead decided to issue a GRC of uncertain legal effect. Ryan is also seeking a declaration that a GRC which records Ryan’s gender as “not specified” would mean that their gender is for all purposes nonbinary.

It turns out that the Gender Recognition Act in the UK doesn't actually specify that you have to be moving from male to female or from female to male, which means there is absolutely already room within the law to allow for nonbinary genders, and obviously the government should accommodate that.

Contribute to the crowdfund here - it's currently at £2,178 pledged of £100,000, with 28 days to go, ending on 27th April 2023.

[mxactivist]

UK petition: Do not require schools to tell parents their child is transgender/non-binary

[ Sign here ]

There are reports that the Government is planning to introduce guidance stating that schools in England must inform parents if a young person seeks to change their name or starts wearing different uniform. We believe this information should be kept confidential, unless the child chooses to share it. For many trans and non-binary children, school is a safe space where they can escape any transphobia at home and live as their preferred gender. We are concerned about reports of new Government guidance that would require schools to tell a trans or non-binary child's parents if the child wishes to socially transition in school. This has the potential to put these children in danger of abuse at home This will not only affect today's children, but children of future generations. We need to stop this before it is too late.

Deadline: 27 October 2023

Signatures: 36,987 (track here) - 100,000 needed for a debate in parliament

Who can sign?

Anyone living in the UK, regardless of citizenship, and

Anyone with UK citizenship living anywhere in the world.