Terrified parents have revealed they were referred to the police and social services after questioning their children’s demands to change sex.
asserted
they → reveal → sex
The families say they were flagged to the authorities by teachers and medical staff for ‘offences’ such as refusing to buy puberty blocker drugs, restricting internet access and failing to use the new names chosen by their children.
asserted
they → say → children
In one case, parents claim they were interviewed by social services after refusing to buy chest binders, which inhibit the natural growth of breasts, while in another a father was arrested following arguments with his vulnerable daughter.
uncertain
father → claim → daughter
The families, who insist on strict anonymity for fear of upsetting their children, are supported by The Bayswater Group for the parents of trans teenagers.
asserted
who → insist → teenagers
Representing hundreds of families around the country, the group estimates more than 10 per cent of its members have been referred to social services, with a third of those referrals made by schools.
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third → represent → schools
Bayswater says that it knows of at least 17 cases where social services – and in some cases the police – have interviewed families following complaints, but believes the true number is significantly greater.
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number → say → complaints
And it says these figures could grow further thanks to Labour-backed legislation aimed at stamping out attempts to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
uncertain
figures → say → orientation
Those found guilty under the draft Conversion Practices Bill could be jailed for five years.
uncertain
Those → find → years
The planned new laws have provoked criticism from campaigners and parliamentarians amid concerns that parents and even therapists could be in the firing line if they are deemed to be obstructing a child’s wish to switch sex.
uncertain
they → plan → sex
One mother told The Mail on Sunday that a school flagged their 14-year-old daughter to social services because her family continued to use the child’s birth name at home.
asserted
family → tell → home
The referral went no further.
asserted
referral → go → ?
Parents have said they were referred to the police and social services after questioning their children’s demands to change sex (picture posed by model)
Another mother told the MoS that social services came to the family home after trying to prevent her teenage daughter having irreversible surgery.
asserted
daughter → say → surgery
‘I challenged the idea of a radical double mastectomy being the accepted procedure for confused adolescent girls with healthy breasts,’ she said.
asserted
she → challenge → breasts
‘My raising reasonable concerns as a parent was framed as “aggressive”.’
asserted
raising → raise → parent
‘Soon afterwards, a social worker came to our home, and I tried to explain why I had challenged the approach being taken with my daughter.
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I → come → daughter
The case was closed with no further action.
asserted
case → close → action
‘I was relieved, but the referral was deeply upsetting.
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referral → relieve → ?
I felt as though I had been accused of putting my daughter at risk when I believed I was trying to protect her.
asserted
I → feel → her
‘The whole accusation was false, disingenuous and felt designed to intimidate me into compliance.’
asserted
accusation → design → compliance
A third family said they had been referred to social services and the police after refusing their daughter’s wish to buy puberty blocker drugs.
asserted
they → say → drugs
Accused of emotional abuse, the parents feared the child would be taken into care.
asserted
child → accuse → care
This paper has also spoken to the father of a trans son who was accused of homophobia and bullying by his local council when he attempted to limit his son’s access to the internet, even though he says the teenager had been attempting to meet older men online.
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teenager → speak → men
Although the MoS has spoken to a number of families affected, their request for anonymity means there is no way of independently verifying their stories, but the Bayswater Group is backed by critics of the new legislation within the Conservative Party.
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Group → speak → Party
Supporters of the draft Bill claim it would only affect cases involving genuine abuse, but many fear that the definition of ‘abuse’ is open to wide interpretation.
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definition → claim → interpretation
Critics are also concerned that the new law would allow councils to obtain Conversion Practice Protection Orders to protect those deemed at risk, potentially allowing social services departments to act unilaterally.
asserted
departments → allow → risk
Some have likened the powers to ‘sex-change ASBOs’, a reference to the Anti-Social Behaviour Orders introduced in 1999 to help councils clamp down on teenage law-breaking.
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councils → liken → breaking
Tory peer Baroness Cash told The Mail on Sunday that the Bill is dangerous and unworkable.
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Bill → tell → Sunday
‘This is the long arm of the law reaching into family life, into private conversations between parents and children, and even between children and therapists,’ she said.
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she → reach → children
A charity has said the new laws would be ‘an attack on ethical, loving parenting’ and could prevent children receiving the therapy they need (picture posed by models)
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they → say → models
‘Last year’s landmark Cass Report into gender identity services for children and young people made it clear that most children who say they are transgender find their issues are eventually resolved.
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issues → make → children
‘But it is crucial that they have exploratory therapy.
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they → have → therapy
This ill-judged draft legislation puts even the therapists in danger.
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legislation → judge → danger
We know from the Bayswater Group that parents already face serious accusations if they disagree with their children or their children’s advisers.
asserted
they → know → children
Now, we are asking therapists to risk their careers should a child take exception to what they have to say.
asserted
they → ask → what
The Sex Matters charity – which campaigns for those who believe there are only two genders and that sex cannot be changed – says the new laws would be ‘an attack on ethical, loving parenting’ and could prevent children receiving the therapy they need.
uncertain
they → campaign → therapy
They could also cause chaos in schools with teachers feeling unable to ban trans girls (born as boys) from female toilets for fear of legal sanction.
uncertain
teachers → cause → sanction
A Sex Matters report published last week concluded that the draft Bill would silence therapists, harm children, divide families and could ‘legislate some parents out of their children’s lives’.
uncertain
Bill → publish → lives
‘This Bill would criminalise ordinary and therapeutic conversations in the name of preventing conversion,’ says the author, social scientist Matilda Gosling.
asserted
author → criminalise → conversion
The Aporia
