Dr Hilary Cass today (Wednesday, April 10) published her review into the care of gender-questioning children in England and Wales, which has called for gender services to operate ‘to the same standards’ as other health services for children and young people, with ‘a holistic assessment’ of people referred.
In response to the “sensationalised” coverage surrounding the independent reviewof gender identity services for children and young people by Dr Cass, Amnesty International UK and Liberty, said: “All children have the right to access specialist effective care on time and must be afforded the privacy to make decisions that are appropriate for them in consultation with a specialist.
“This review is being weaponised by people who revel in spreading disinformation and myths about healthcare for trans young people.
“It’s concerning that sections of the media and many politicians continue to spread moral panic with no regard for the possible consequences for trans people and their families.
“The negative rhetoric by the Government about the dangers of so-called gender ideology, healthcare for young trans people, as well as the push against LGBT-inclusive sex and relationship education is harmful and extremely damaging. It is no different from the ultra-conservative and evangelical groups pushing for discriminatory laws targeting trans people in the United States.
“Scapegoating trans people is harmful and dangerous. The Government should protect everyone’s human rights rather than exploit the diverse experiences of trans people to score points.”
Dr Cass’s report also warned a ‘more cautious approach’ must be taken for children than for adolescents when it comes to social transitioning. When families are making decisions about social transitioning, it is important ‘parents are not unconsciously influencing the child’s gender expression’, the review said.
In total, Dr Cass made 32 recommendations on multiple aspects of gender care for child, which can be read HERE.
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK finalist and fan favourite, Michael Marouli, has been announced as the headline act for a brand-new matinee entertainment extravaganza for the East Midlands, Shablam! On Sundays, brought to you by Saul Morgan and Laura Wood, two of the team behind Groovebox Nottingham Pride Festival, and to be held at Nottingham’s iconic outdoor arena, Binks Yard.
“I’ve literally had to run to get here in time, it’s just been nonstop, absolutely wild, but in the very best way!” We’re talking to Michael, as he prepares with his fellow Geordie Drag Race finalists, Ginger Johnson and Tamara Thomas, to take their new show, Angels of the North, around the UK and across the globe before returning to headline an all-new Drag Extravaganza, Shablam! On Sundays at Binks Yard in Nottingham on Sunday,May 12.
Michael Marouli quickly established themselves as a fan favourite in the hugely successful RuPaul’s Drag Race UK shown on BBC3 earlier this year. Renowned for their killer looks and quick wit, Michael made it to the finals before losing the crown to fellow Geordie girl, Ginger Johnson.
“I mean, how dare she steal the crown from me! I’ll get my revenge, don’t you worry, although murder on the dancefloor might be taking it a bit far… I’m kidding of course; it’s all love, we’re having an absolute ball putting the show together. The whole show is a big celebration of the fact Ginger, Tamara and I are all from the North East and we all get on fabulously. I can’t wait to share it with the fans, you’re just gonna die when you see it.”
Nana Arthole will also be performing at Shablam! On Sundays
The North East sense of humour certainly made a big impression on the last season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, with the Geordie girls repeatedly swiping RuPeter badges out of the grasp of their fellow contestants. But what is it about the North East sense of humour that’s so funny?
“I think it’s because we’re all working class and we’re all just so down to earth. We find the humour in everything; do you know what I mean? Growing up in these small working-class towns, it just wasn’t acceptable to be different, let alone be out, loud and proud, so I guess we just find the humour in that. You get to a point where you just have to own it and say ‘BOOM! we’re here!’
“We’re all just daft, we all have such stupid senses of humour and find everyday things really hilarious. I think that’s the magic of being a Geordie. I love it.”
So, what was it that first got Michael into drag? “I’ve just always been so interested in fashion, music, performance, feminine energy, that kind of stuff. And then, when I first started in show business, I was doing male presenting cabaret and did a lot of work with drag queens and the more it evolved, the more I just fell in love with it.
“Drag just gives you that freedom; there are no rules to it, which is what I love. I get to live out every childhood fantasy that I have. I get to be a pop star; I get to be a Hollywood actress; I get to be all these video game characters and these amazing things that you dream of when you’re little. And that’s just drag; it’s just freedom and there are no rules.”
And when the makeup and the hair go on, does a different Michael appear? “No, what you see is what you get: it’s just me. That’s why I never had a drag name, as I’m the same out of drag as I am in it. I guess it just heightens everything about me and gives me an excuse to get away with saying a lot more! Drag is like my superhero costume, I suppose. It’s my armour!”
Vayne will also be performing at Shablam! On Sundays
Michael hardened his armour and honed his craft in the clubs of Gran Canaria’s Yumbo Centre with audiences made up of families, grannies, gays and anyone else that wanted to join the fun; a precursor to today’s drag audiences and how the medium has evolved into the mainstream.
“When I first started drag was seen as something tacky, something throw away, but now I think the art of Drag is really appreciated. The world has fallen head over heels in love with it and takes it a lot more seriously. It’s incredible to see the evolution of it.
“I love all forms of drag and I support it all, whether that’s going and watching the girls doing a choreographed lip sync and they all look like pop stars; watching someone stood at a microphone for 45 minutes telling dad jokes, singing songs; or stood there hitting themselves in the face with an iron in time to some weird piece of music. I just love it. It’s all expression, it’s all art. And that’s the beauty of drag, how different it can be.”
And something different is exactly what Shablam! On Sundays is aiming to be. Taking place at Binks Yard, home to last summer’s Groovebox Nottingham Pride Festival, Shablam! on Sundays will bring together International superstars of RuPaul’s Drag Race with the biggest and best regional drag stars to make Sunday afternoons sickening. Okrrrr.
The inaugural event will take place on Sunday, May 12 and will see Michael Marouli headline in their first appearance, not only in Nottingham, but in the East Midlands, as a whole. “Honestly, it’s my first time and I’m so excited, especially as I’ll be working with some of the best local drag talent as well. That’s one of the things that I love about going to new cities: meeting and working with the local girls; I always have a ball.”
Marilyn Sane will also be performing at Shablam! On Sundays
Performing at Shablam! On Sunday with Michael Marouli will be Marilyn Sane, Nana Arthole, Vayne, Kenya Knott and Liv Presents who promise an afternoon of lip-synching mayhem, amazing live vocals, proper laughs, killer choreography and there’s a post-show disco courtesy of Groovebox and Sanctuary resident DJ Cookii Shakes.
“Every time I go somewhere new, I always like to get there early to say hello to all the queens; it’s one my favourite parts of doing a show. I’ll be on a mission, in the dressing room pouring the shots. To be fair, when you’re in the dressing room all together, you do tend to bond instantly. We all know we’re there to do a fantastic show and we’re gonna give it our all. It’s very supportive, like a sisterhood. It’s just fab.”
So now he’s a huge international star, does Michael have an extensive list of dressing room demands?
“Red M&Ms all the way baby… Listen, I’m as rough as the roads, I’m used to getting changed on top of beer barrels, I’ve been around a lot longer than Drag Race and there’s no changing me. That’s the good thing about Geordies, if there’s even the slightest inkling of diva behaviour, then you’ll get a slap around the chops and told to get a grip!
“The biggest thing I learned from doing Drag Race was to live in the moment and to not take life too seriously: relax and breathe, go with it and enjoy!”
Enjoyment is what it is all about! What can audiences expect from a Michael Marouli Live show?
“Everything! It’s always very high energy. There’ll be comedy, there’ll be camp, there’ll be some live stuff and dancing and some filth thrown in too! I have the best time because I like to get the audience involved. I just want to make sure everyone has a really good time, that’s the whole point of it. I think the energy of the room is so important, whether it’s a room with 40 people in or an arena with 3,000, I like to give that energy. Arms in the air, everyone’s singing along, letting their hair down and just having a ball.”
Binks Yard – Shablam! On Sundays venue
With Shablam! On Sunday being a matinee event, does Michael expect a different vibe? “Nah, if they’re still hungover from the night before, we’ll get them back into the party spirit in no time. It’s gonna be amazing. I love doing daytime gigs, especially on a Sunday as everyone is always so much more laid back and ready to have a good time. Everyone’s just gonna be fab. It’s gonna be amazing.”
So, after the Angels of the North tour and Shablam! On Sunday, what’s next for Michael Marouli? Would he consider a Drag Race return?
“I’m not gonna rest until there’s a crown on my head. All Stars or UK vs The World, I don’t mind which, so I’m saying it here and now: ‘mark my words, I will be back’.”
And finally, with fellow Geordie girl Tamara Thomas heading to Nottingham for the Groovebox Nottingham Pride Festival, could we tempt Michael back to the city for a night on the town?
“Absolutely. You say the word, name the date and time and I’ll be there – with bells on.”
You can find out details and get tickets for the Angels of the North tour HERE
Shablam! on Sundays is open to audiences 16+ andis fully accessible for wheelchair users to ensure that everyone is included in the fun. Tickets cost from just £20 to £50 for the VIP meet and greet and are available to buy HERE
Follow them on social media to keep up to date /Shablamonsundays
Dr Hilary Cass has today (Wednesday, April 10) published her review into the care of gender-questioning children in England and Wales, which has called for gender services to operate ‘to the same standards’ as other health services for children and young people, with ‘a holistic assessment’ of people referred.
According to Dr Cass the entirety of gender medicine – including the use of puberty blockers – is ‘built on shaky foundations’.
The Cass report urged the NHS to change some other standards of its gender care, including a review of its policy on giving children masculinising or feminising hormones from the age of 16, with the report urging ‘extreme caution’.
Dr Cass said there ‘should be a clear clinical rationale for providing hormones at this stage rather than waiting until an individual reaches 18’.
The use of such hormones, the review said, should be part of a research programme alongside a previously reported puberty blocker trial which is expected to be in place by December.
“Everyone deserves access to timely, supportive and holistic healthcare. However, across all of the UK, the NHS is failing trans youth.”
Dr Cass’s report also warned a ‘more cautious approach’ must be taken for children than for adolescents when it comes to social transitioning. When families are making decisions about social transitioning, it is important ‘parents are not unconsciously influencing the child’s gender expression’, the review said.
In total, Dr Cass made 32 recommendations on multiple aspects of gender care for child, which can be read HERE.
Following publication of the report, trans charity Mermaids said: “Everyone deserves access to timely, supportive and holistic healthcare. However, across all of the UK, the NHS is failing trans youth, with appalling waiting lists of more than six years, virtually no first appointments offered for over a year, and increased politicisation of the support offered to children and young people.
“Trans youth tell us they want services which are accepting and respectful, which offer supportive spaces to explore their gender, and provide access to medical transition if and when they need it.
“The Cass Review, an independent review of NHS England gender services for children and young people, published after almost four years, echoes much of this and recognises the current system is failing trans youth.
“We are concerned that some of the language in the report is open to misinterpretation and could be used to justify additional barriers to accessing care for some trans young people.”
“We are pleased the voices and experiences of trans young people appear to have been heard and respected, and we welcome Dr Cass’ calls for trans children and young people, and their families, to be “treated with compassion and respect”. We hope for the same, and for the sharing of clear, accurate information when discussing this topic.
“However, we are concerned that some of the language in the report is open to misinterpretation and could be used to justify additional barriers to accessing care for some trans young people in the same way the interim report has been. We will publish our full analysis of the Cass Review in due course.
“NHS England has published their immediate response to the Cass Review and written to all adult providers, explaining the changes they plan to make in the short to medium term. Very few of these will have an immediate effect on children and young people, and we will keep trans young people and their families informed about any changes that might impact them.
“In the meantime, we call on NHS England, and the NHS across the UK, to resist pressures from those who seek to limit access to healthcare, listen to trans youth directly, and act urgently to provide gender services which are timely, supportive and holistic.
“If you need support or have questions about what this might mean for yourself or your young person, please contact our helpline team. We’re here for you Monday – Friday, 9am – 9pm.”
Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) has raised serious concerns in a response to a consultation on the government’s draft Guidance for Schools and Colleges: Gender Questioning Children.
The national consultation, which closed 12 March, asked for views on the content of the guidance and whether it will help support schools and colleges, teachers and leaders to make considered and lawful decisions in relation to children who are questioning their gender and the wider school and college community.
However, in a detailed submission to the consultation, the council’s response points out that the draft guidance risks contradicting its objectives.
The response outlines how the draft guidance fails in terms of human rights, equalities law and the Public Sector Equality Duty. In the council’s view, the draft guidance also deviates from the government’s Equalities Office guidance Trans People in the UK published in 2018.
Critically, BHCC says, the guidance “does not adhere to the principle that the welfare of the child and young person will be paramount in all considerations”.
The criticism from BHCC also picks up that assumptions in the guidance do not reflect the nuance of the approach needed to allow a school to properly respond to the unique needs of each situation.
Nor, BHCC says, does the guidance offer any practical guidance for schools to act within the law, with a risk of putting schools and colleges in a position of potentially breaking the law through following government guidance.
Councillor Lucy Helliwell, co-chair of the council’s Children, Families and Schools Committee, said: “As the council’s response to the consultation sets out, the draft guidance on gender questioning children raises serious concerns. It lacks clarity and accuracy on the law, which risks serious legal consequences for schools and colleges.
“Most concerning of all, it lacks humanity and understanding for the very real distress of children and young people who are either questioning their gender or can be properly termed as transgender.
“We fully support the National Association of Head Teachers‘ stance about the importance of keeping in mind that it’s individual children and young people at the heart of all this, and that schools are focused on making sure every child in their care is both safe and treated with compassion and humanity.
“In contrast to this position, the draft guidance feels rooted in a position seeking to challenge the right of gender-questioning children to be accepted, supported and welcomed into the school community.
“The lack of balance about the need to protect gender questioning pupils from prejudice is striking and unacceptable in any guidance to schools on this subject.
“The blanket approach of the guidance appears to be based on principles which are discriminatory, fail to understand the complexity of the needs of the children concerned, and fundamentally do not recognise their rights as transgender children, which is mischaracterised from the start as ‘gender identity ideology’.
“We’re asking for the guidance to be rewritten, taking into consideration the guidance and practice in BHCC’s long-established Trans Inclusion Schools Toolkit, with a base line set of principles which recognise the need for a nuanced and individual approach to put the welfare of gender questioning and transgender pupils at the heart of the guidance.”
Brighton & Hove City Council’s full response to the government’s ‘Guidance for Schools and Colleges: Gender Questioning Children’ consultation is available on the council’s website at.
Organisers of the first Basingstoke Pride have promised a feast of colour and music for their first Pride Parde, which will take place on August 17.
Dancers and performers will head through the town towards the Amphitheatre at Festival Place, where there will be entertainment, free family-friendly activities and music.
The parade will be financed by the borough council’s Pride in Place fund and the overall event has been organised by by Basingstoke Pride Community Interest Company (CIC).
Organisers said: “As residents of Basingstoke, we felt like we were missing that sense of community and we wanted to build those connections.
“We hope Basingstoke Pride will be the foundation of our LGBTQ+ family’s growth.”
Attendees will need to book a free ticket to the parade, which will run from 12pm on August 17.
A trans teen from Bexhill, described as a ‘cheeky fun ball of energy’, who was found dead while on the NHS gender clinic waiting list, had his needs ‘swept under the carpet’ by social services, his mother has told a coroner.
Jason Pulman, 15, struggled with mental health problems as well as his gender identity, and was regularly self-harming and abusing drink and drugs in the run-up to his death, mother Emily told Hastings Coroners Court.
The talented artist was frequently relocated by social services to try and keep them safe from his violent birth father.
While he underwent a successful social transition, he remained ‘adamant’ he wanted to see doctors at the Gender Identity Development Service in order to ‘feel better in his body’, but did not have the chance before his death.
By early 2022, Jason’s worsening behaviour meant the family knew he needed more significant psychiatric help.
“He needed more than just a conversation on the phone”, Mrs Pulman told Assistant Coroner Michael Spencer in her witness statement.
The family “were done trying to get help from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services)”, and Jason himself thought it was ‘pointless’.
Mrs Pulman told Hastings Coroners Court she was not impressed by Sussex Police, saying she had phoned them four times since discovering his empty bed on the morning of his death, with an officer only arriving at the family home that evening after 7pm.
“I felt in my stomach that something bad was going to happen. I just felt so frustrated the police were doing nothing”, she said.
“The police could have done something and they didn’t. I was so used to social services brushing it [concerns] under the carpet and it felt the same.”
Only hours after the initial police visit, on April 19, 2022, the teenager was found dead in a park in nearby Eastbourne.
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) is calling on Ghana’s President Akufo-Addo to repeal the “discriminatory” LGBTQ+ Bill passed by Ghana’s Parliament in what is widely seen as further criminalisation of LGBTQ+ communities in the West African country.
The IBAHRI regards the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill (the Bill) as a major setback for human rights in Ghana. People identifying as LGBTQ+ could be punished with up to three years’ imprisonment. It further imposes a maximum five-year jail term for anyone forming or funding LGBTQ+ groups, as well as up to ten years’ imprisonment for anyone involved in LGBTQ+ advocacy campaigns aimed at children.
IBAHRI Co-Chair and Immediate Past Secretary General of the Swedish Bar Association, Anne Ramberg Dr Jur hc, commented: “The passage of this Bill by the Parliament of Ghana only serves to increase and incite animosity, and to promote prejudice, towards LGBTQ+ citizens of Ghana.
“By reinforcing draconian colonial-era laws against the long-fought for rights and freedoms of the LGBTQ+ communities is to entirely set aside decades of advancements in international law, including the Covenant on Civil and Political Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the African Charter and the Yogyakarta Principles.”
The Bill, called one of the “harshest of its kind in Africa”, must still be validated by President Akufo-Addo before being entered into law, which observers believe is unlikely before a general election in December 2024. The Finance Ministry is reported to have warned that Ghana could lose a total of $3.8bn (£3bn) in World Bank funding over the next five to six years if the Bill is signed into law. Therefore, on the advice of the Finance Ministry, President Akufo-Addo has said he will defer assent to the Bill until the Supreme Court of Ghana rules on its constitutionality.
However, such broad legislation that is discriminatory in its nature has already prima facie failed to pass the muster of the constitution and international instruments, risking further erosion of the rule of law.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, expressed “deep alarm” that the Bill criminalises the legitimate work of human rights defenders, teachers, medical professionals and landlords, as well as people seeking healthcare, and unduly restricts freedom of association and expression of everyone in Ghana.
IBAHRI Director, Baroness Helena Kennedy KC, stated: “The anti-LGBTQ+ Bill serves to not only threaten the basic human rights of members of the LGBTQ+ community, but will have a pervasive ripple effect in diminishing human rights protection across Ghanian society.
“Considering Ghana’s recent election to the Human Rights Council, the adoption of the Bill would directly conflict with Ghana’s commitment at the Human Rights Council to respecting and protecting the rights of all individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, further endangering the right to health, housing and freedom of association and other interrelated rights.
“We urge the President to repeal this Bill.”
IBAHRI Co-Chair, Mark Stephens CBE, added: “The anti-LGBTQ+ Bill will have severe ramifications on the legal profession in Ghana as those lawyers who seek to defend persons identified as queer will themselves be targeted.
“This is in direct contradiction of the UN Guiding Principles on the Role of Lawyers which states that lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients’ causes as a result of discharging their functions. We urge Ghana to retain the character of its legal profession as free and independent.”
Last June, similar legislation that criminalised homosexuality was passed in Uganda. Although other African countries have criminalised homosexual acts under sodomy laws, the legislation of Ghana and Uganda specifically criminalises anyone identifying as LGBTQ+ regardless of their activity. In contrast, other African countries have decriminalised consensual same-sex relationships in recent years, such as Botswana’s Court of Appeal, which unanimously repealed anti-homosexuality laws, stating in its ruling that “Those sections [of the penal code] have outlived their usefulness, and serve only to incentivise law enforcement agents to become keyhole peepers and intruders into the private space of citizens.”
The IBAHRI calls on the Ghanaian government to reconsider the widespread, unjust and discriminatory outcomes that this Bill will have if it comes into effect and urges its unequivocal repeal.
OUTtv, the LGBTQ+ streaming service from OUT Media Group (OMG), is rebranding its UK and Ireland streaming service Froot.tv to OUTflix and launching a Direct-to-Consumer app offering for OUTflix across the region. In addition, OUTflix has launched across the Nordics through a deal with Allente which covers Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.
Since launching in the UK in 2020 as a DTC offering, the service has grown its partnerships to include OUTtv Proud, a FAST channel now available via Channelbox on Freeview, Plex and Netgem.
OUTflix is also a commissioner of original UK content, recently greenlighting queer comedy series Stand Up Specials London, featuring sets from emerging comedians including James Barr, Heleana Blackwell, David Ian, Kat Nip and Vix Leyton. Additional UK original content on the service includes Live at the Queer Comedy Club, and a series of short films from the Iris Prize festival selected titles.
In addition, two projects developed through the documentary film financing fund for emerging British LGBTQ+ filmmakers that OUTtv funds alongside the Iris Prize and Aberystwth University are hosted on OUTflix: Somina Fombo’s Some Girls Hate Dresses, which follows the lives of Black British tomboys from the 1990s, and the forthcoming Bender Defenders from director Ira Putilova, highlighting five queer, non-binary and transgender people at a queer Muay Thai club in East London talking about friendship, love, intimacy, queerness, London and bodies.
Brad Danks, CEO of OMG and OUTtv, said: “OUTtv has always been a trailblazing platform, recognising that queer audiences and allies are a significant segment of the viewer population and offering them both original and acquired content – ranging from overlooked stories from the past like Some Girls Hate Dresses, to bubbly and authentic dating series like the Stormy Daniels-fronted For the Love of DILFS.
“We are unifying the brand as we expand across Europe and beyond, so we’re thrilled to be launching OUTflix alongside our partnership with Allente across the Nordics – and look forward to many more viewers discovering the treasure trove of LGBTQ+ content we continue to grow.”
OUTflix is available at OUTflix.com for £2.99/month with a free 7-day trial. The service is also available for iOS, tvOS and Android devices.
A new exhibition from CrawleyLGBT‘s Queer Crawley Heritage Project has opened at Crawley Museum.
Running till June 1, this free exhibition explores and documents the lives and experiences of the local LGBTQ+ population – to capture what it means to be queer in Crawley, now and in the past.
Interviewees include Vince, Skye, Gill, Derek and Carl, who shared their stories for this exhibition.
CrawleyLGBT said: “This exhibition has been curated by a team of hard-working volunteers over the past year and we couldn’t be more proud of what has been achieved!
“Well done to Hollie and the team, it looks amazing!”
This exhibition is free, but donations welcome, and it runs at Crawley Museum, 103 High St, Crawley RH10 1DD on Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10,30am-4pm till June 1.
A new study from Rutgers University in the United States has shown that women with female sexual partners are more likely to orgasm than women with male partners.
The study of 1,000 women found 78% of women who had sexual experiences with female partners experienced orgasms, compared to just 65% of those who had sex with men.
The study was conducted in two phases:
Psychologists who ran the study said their findings don’t mean there is an ‘inherent problem’ with heterosexual sex – just that foreplay should be more of a priority for straight men.
Women who had sex with women were more likely to experience foreplay, with their sexual partner focusing on the clitoris, which made them far more likely to orgasm – while women who had sex with men did not experience this as commonly.
In both studies, women reported that female partners paid more attention to their clitoris, which made them more likely to orgasm, as compared to male sexual partners.
Firstly, psychologists asked 476 women – half lesbians, and half straight women – to report on their experience with their most recent sexual partner. This found that lesbians are 20% more likely to experience orgasms than their straight female counterparts.
The second phase interviewed bisexual women about their sexual experiences. Half were asked to imagine a sexual experience with a man, and the other half imagined a sexual experience with a woman.
They then rated their experiences on a scale of one (very unlikely) to seven (very likely) based on how likely they were to have an orgasm.
Women imagining sex with a man reported a score of 4.88, compared to 5.86 for those imagining sex with a woman.
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