I am emotionally torn and upset.

This morning I watched the Ethan Crumbley hearing where he admitted to the killings and the judge told him the possible sentences. He will get life with no parole in prison. He is 16 years old. He committed the murders at 15 years old. He killed other kids, no minimizing that.

But the US justice system is not about rehabilitation, it is about vengeance and punishment. Mostly punishment. The fact is with for profit prisons and every effort at cost cutting the people in prison live in some of the most horrible conditions they cannot escape from no matter how well they may try to improve themselves and they can never redeem themselves. We have all heard the stories of food so bad that it has bugs in it, mold all over the bread or other items, meats that are green and slimy that shouldn’t ever be consumed. That is just the food. The stories about non-existence of healthcare with lack of any medications. Then there is the conditions that prisoners are forced to live in that exploit them at every turn. If they want any comfort they must buy it at often highly inflated prices, but the only access to funds for most is prison set up labor, where often the prison hires out the prisoner as slave labor with no rights for a huge profit to the prison authorities but only pennies for the prisoner, but what choice do they have? Earn nothing and suffer with no ability to have anything including food that is not unfit to eat, or do the slave labor knowing how badly you are being abused. But the worst thing I think is beyond the constant lifelong every second of your life having someone tell you what you can do, must do, not do, no rights for any movement except that approved by someone else. You are an adult treated like a 3 year old. But add to that is the living conditions. For profit prisons are notorious for making the living conditions as unpleasant as possible to save money, so they give no temperature controls making prisoners either swelter in the unbearable heat or suffer the cold with no way to keep warm or leave to get warm. One more thing you have no body privacy. Other people have the right to see and inspect your genitals and look into your anus any time they want, the people in charge have the right to watch you shower. This 16 year old boy will be made to be nude in front of other people and display himself on his return to his prison despite being under constant observation of law officers the entire time. Plus if you look at the video he is in a jumpsuit with his feet / legs shackled together and his cuffed to his waste. They did release his right hand so he could raise it to swear the oath.

What has me crying, emotionally upset, and torn up barely able to deal with my thoughts. This boy has been in jail for 11 months. He committed the crime at 15 and he is now 16. He will be in some prison for the rest of his life. His only out will be either killed or a natural death 60 years from now. During that time his life will be hell. Pure punishment. He is young and kind of cute with longish hair … I know what he will face, I had it done to me. He will adjust and try to deal but others will take their pleasure out of his body and he won’t have any way to stop them. Unlike me he cannot escape or hide from the abusers. He faces constant physical violence and danger of harm. I know what it is like to be stabbed while eating, more than once a fork was embedded in my body. Mostly my hand or arm. From an early age I learned supper at the table was dangerous and got used to looking for the signs of violence about to happen and sliding quickly under the table. I got really good at quickly dropping under the table and trying to shut out what was happening above. Not that if I was the target being under the table was safe, but it gave me avenues to try to escape. I was so undernourished and thin because who can eat knowing that at any time the adults at the table will start throwing things and hitting each other or coming after me for something. One doctor who examined me said I was so underdeveloped I would be lucky to be over 5 foot tall as an adult. This will be Ethan’s life for the next 60 years. I was able to eat at school and hide from supper, but for him to do that he has to do the slave labor to buy food that is not provided. He faces constant threats of abuse from other prisoners, the guards that are said to protect he will also be a threat to him, he wont have access to medical health or needed mental health, he will suffer and suffer for a lifetime of maybe 60 years. And some people think that is justice.

An update and ending. I had more to write on this but I think you get my point you can look up anything you need to, I just got done throwing up which woke Ron from his nap. He came out and wanted to know why I was sick and crying. When I tried to tell him but really couldn’t he wanted me to shut the computers off. He did not know the specifics, but he was sure it had to do with something on either computer. He asked me repeatedly to shut them off and play Halo on the Xbox. I like Halo, it makes me feel better as I get to be the ultra strong hero stopping the bad guys. But in this Ron doesn’t understand. My retreating into fantasy will help me right now, but it wont help anyone of the people in the broken prison system in the US, it wont help Eathan who is a kid his parents destroyed and set up for this. I have a suspicion more will come out, the parents did not flee and lie so because they bought the gun, that makes no sense. I suspect there was a much worse home life for Ethan that will come out. Not that it will matter for him now, our vindictive hateful society will have their revenge. I just wish they would add one more death to the total lost that day, his life also was lost forever it will just take him longer to die.

One more thought. For those that have a weird view that death is worse than a lifetime of rape, punishment, abuse, harm, pain, hurt, being scared, having to use a toilet in the open, having to shower in front of everyone, and all the rest … what is your mental defect. Many times in my childhood I felt death was better. I just never got to the point of doing it simply because I did not know how. I did put some effort into it, but back then no internet. Death even in the bible is the dead no not nothing! Damn that is better than some of the things I mentioned above.

Anyway, this is week we have to vote and the state for the first time I have lived here did not send out a sample ballot for our voting district. They only have a county wide version of the ballot online. This is the first year the republicans have been in charge of our county voting and they are making it as hard as possible to find information on any of the things on the ballot. I was to look up all the judges that need retention and other provisions on the ballot that fills nearly three pages in a PDF file. Most of this won’t be on my ballot but I have no way to know. But with my mind / emotions the way they are right now it is a struggle to even think or concentrate? Damn I want to go hide in my bed. But my mind keeps going back to the life this poor bastard will have. I don’t agree it is justice or in any way what is best for society. If we really want him removed from society just kill him. Don’t give him a sentence of 60 years of punishment. That if revenge, that is sadistic. That is not what humans should do.

Ok I am done, drained of any ability to say more. Best wishes and hugs to all. I am not even going to proof read this for mistakes, what is then it is. I feel the pain in every part of my body and all my fear responses are wanting me to flee but where would I flee to? Hugs

‘Trans kids are not new’: a historian on the long record of youth transitioning in America

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/01/trans-children-history-jules-gill-peterson-interview

Many people have bought into the right wing talking point that trans people are a new fad. But the truth is just like sexual orientation people have been born with a different gender than their birth identified sex for as long as there have been people. Another right wing talking point shown to be incorrect and wrong. Hugs

Republicans seeking to restrict children’s lives claim trans youth are a ‘new phenomenon’. Jules Gill-Peterson explains how medical archives prove them wrong

Jules Gill-Peterson: ‘Children and youth have been finding access to trans medicine and transition as long as there has been medical transition.’ Photograph: Courtesy Jules Gill-Peterson

@SamTLevin

Thu 1 Apr 2021 06.00 EDT

Republican lawmakers pushing to restrict transgender children’s lives have repeatedly argued that trans kids are a “new phenomenon” and that gender-affirming treatments and policies are “experimental”.

But Jules Gill-Peterson, a professor of gender, sexuality and women’s studies at the University of Pittsburgh, has found extensive evidence of trans youth in the US living as themselves and fighting to transition in decades-old archival documents. The records from American hospitals and clinics date back to the early 20th century, with examples across the US well before the existence of contemporary language on trans identity.

The Guardian recently spoke to the Histories of the Transgender Child author about her research and its implications as Republicans push legislation to restrict trans youths’ access to sports teams and outlaw gender-affirming healthcare. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Trans kids on the Republican bills targeting them: ‘I’m not a problem to society’

Read more

Why was it important to you to research the history of trans kids?

In the past 10 years, we’ve seen this sudden visibility of trans kids. There’s a lot more representation. But the common refrain is, “Trans people are so new” and “Trans kids, my gosh! They didn’t even exist until recently.” And I started to think about what happens when you’re part of a group that gets framed as brand new. There’s this cloak of caution and fear around trans kids, this idea that “We don’t know what it means for a child to transition”. That “this is all an experiment”. I had a sense as a historian that these ideas were probably not true and wanted to do historical research that would challenge this, by showing that trans kids have been around for a long time.

How far back were you able to find documentation?

What I uncovered in the research is that children and youth have been finding access to trans medicine and transition as long as there has been medical transition – as far back as the 1930s and 40s. But even prior to that, children certainly lived trans lives where they would socially transition in childhood. I found evidence in the US that families and communities would accept children as a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth, let them go to school, use the correct bathroom, all of the things that are being fought over now. We can see that 70 or 80 years ago, we were actually in a more progressive place in some areas.

What pieces of evidence were particularly telling?

This is not a new social phenomenon. It’s not some trendy thing that kids are picking up now

I found handwritten letters from trans kids to a famous endocrinologist, Harry Benjamin, who was known for providing trans healthcare. In the 60s and 70s, they would say, “I’m X years old. I’m a transsexual. I read about that in the news” or “I looked up your work at a library, and it describes who I am”. They were from all over the country and they would ask if Dr Benjamin could see them, send them hormones, give them a permit to wear the clothes they wanted, talk to their family or teacher. It was young kids knowing really clearly that they were trans and going toe-to-toe with medical professionals. Suddenly, I had not only proof that kids were trans, but that they contacted doctors and tried to transition the best they could. It speaks to the remarkable ingenuity and resilience that trans young people have had for a really long time. And it’s pretty unimpeachable evidence that this is not a new social phenomenon. It’s not some trendy thing that kids are picking up now.

Are there specific stories that stuck with you?

One of the other incredible archival finds was this woman Val, a trans woman who in the 1950s was trying to get surgery in Wisconsin. In the hospital, she did an interview with a psychologist and talked about her childhood, growing up in the early 1930s in a small town in rural Wisconsin. She says from as far back as she could remember, she knew she was a girl. There was no trans language in that household, but her parents accepted her. There was an understanding of what that meant, socially, without any need for a medical diagnosis. So her family raised her as a girl and arranged for her to go to school as a girl. Now, there are dozens of bills that claim we have to restrict trans kids because “we’ve never seen kids like this before”, but in reality we can look almost 90 years ago and see a trans kid who was accepted by her family.

What did you learn about who has actually had access to care throughout the history of trans medicine?

One of the biggest lines of difference was racial. White trans people were seen as having a problem in their gender development that could be corrected, and in fact must be corrected because of this inherently racist idea that white civilization must have its gender norms. So right from the start, we see that white trans kids get way more access to medical care.

‘It helps me be myself’: trans kids on the healthcare Republicans want to deny them

Read more

Black trans children in particular are almost completely shut out. Instead of receiving medical care, they are much more likely to be arrested or institutionalized, put in the foster care system or juvenile detention. And they are much more likely to be diagnosed as delusional, schizophrenic or something else that blatantly ignores what they know about themselves.

How does that legacy of exclusion tie into the current efforts to outlaw gender-affirming treatments?

Most trans people do not have access to gender-affirming care. They never have, it’s never been the reality. We’re not even close. It’s primarily upper-middle-class and white well-educated families that actually have the time and the money to access care. So we’re now facing the proposition of banning forms of healthcare that almost no trans kids even have access to. The possibility of making things better and righting historical wrongs will stop with these bills.

And it’s a direct continuation of this history that is also a racial history. There is a lot of disposable income and time required to get care. If you have a trans kid, you need to advocate constantly and show up and testify against the bills. So working-class families, families of color, people with less resources are way less able to do what it takes right now to access pediatric gender-affirming care.

Rightwing conservatives have been recycling the same language that we saw 15 to 20 years ago around gays and lesbians

Why do you think trans kids in particular have become such a culture war target?

Mainstream LGBT organizations for a long time weren’t trans-inclusive, and trans activists long warned that focusing on gay marriage would leave behind other LGBT people who are vulnerable and wouldn’t be protected by marriage – like trans people and youth. And that seems to really have come true. Trans rights have been turned into a wedge issue. And children are really easy targets, because we don’t grant them the privilege to speak for themselves and defend their own interests. So they are used as pawns.

How trans children became ‘a political football’ for the Republican party

Read more

Rightwing conservatives have been recycling the same language that we saw 15 to 20 years ago around gays and lesbians – the language of “child endangerment”, “grooming”, “pedophilia”, the need to “protect children” and “protect schools” through really restrictive laws. The focus on children is part of a coordinated effort and it’s not just in the US. We see it in the UK where there is no real access to gender-affirming treatments if you’re under 18. There’s a media campaign to shift the discourse to focusing on children’s transitions with all sorts of moral panics. It’s a really disturbing coalition, because you’ve got rightwing white supremacist evangelicals, but you also have politicians in the mainstream and people on the left who are trans-exclusionary and claim to be feminists. It’s a perfect storm.

How do you think people should be responding to Arkansas passing the first trans healthcare ban in the US this week?

This should be a wake-up call for a lot of folks. It’s no longer hypothetical. This is the time for people to reach out to the governor of Arkansas, but also to get involved in their own states and ask what they can do now before we see another passage of one of these bills. We should also be thinking more broadly, so we’re not just reacting over and over again to these bills. In some ways trans healthcare is analogous to reproductive rights and abortion. If you make it illegal, the need for care doesn’t go away. So we should be thinking about how we make this kind of care available to young people and how to show up for these children and their families, and not just make these laws the be-all-end-all.

NEW MAGA Republican Law DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES Revealed in POWERFUL Stories

These are the true stories of the devastating consequences of MAGA abortion bans from women and doctors across the country. Made in partnership with the Center for American Progress.

An overwhelming majority of trans youth continue gender-affirming care as adults

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/10/overwhelming-majority-trans-youth-continue-gender-affirming-care-adults/

Another unfounded right wing hater talking point bites the dust, shown to be wrong by studying the facts. But despite being informed of this and the prior studies that showed they were wrong the anti-trans people will keep repeating the misinformation to mislead people and create mistrust of affirmative trans gender care. Hugs

A new study disproves Republicans’ favorite justification for their anti-trans agenda: that kids who are provided with gender-affirming care will regret it.

By Molly Sprayregen Friday, October 21, 2022

Photo: Shutterstock

An overwhelming majority of trans people who began gender-affirming medical treatments as teenagers continue those treatments as young adults, a new study out of the Netherlands has found.

A common Republican justification for their anti-trans agenda is that kids who are provided with gender-affirming care will regret it as adults, but the study – conducted by Amsterdam UMC hospital’s gender identity clinic – found that a whopping 98% of the 720 patients observed continued their treatments.

The authors wrote that to their knowledge, the study was the first of its kind to examine a large group of trans people to find out whether the majority continue with gender-affirming hormone replacement therapy after starting their treatment with puberty blockers.

The study looked at 220 people who were assigned male at birth and 500 who were assigned female at birth. All were between the ages of 14 and 17 when their gender-affirming treatment began. During their follow-up appointments, they were all between the ages of 17 and 25.

“The key message is that the majority of people, who went through a thorough diagnostic evaluation prior to starting treatment, continued gender-affirming hormones at follow-up,” Dr. Marianne van der Loos, one of the authors of the study, told The Daily Beast. “This is reassuring regarding the recent increased public concern about regret of transition.”

Dr. Jack Turban, who researches the mental health of trans youth at the University of Southern California San Francisco, added that the study’s results are congruent with other research that has found gender-affirming treatments for youth – like puberty blockers – to be beneficial.

Turban also emphasized – as did those who conducted the Netherlands study – that anyone who undergoes gender-affirming treatments must first undergo comprehensive assessments before beginning. Doing so often lowers the likelihood that patients who do begin treatments ever regret it.

“I hope that studies such as these, and other past studies that had similar findings, will make their way to policymakers’ desks so we can have evidence-based public policy that promotes the health and wellbeing of young people.”

“I worry that the recent political misinformation about trans youth, their medical care, and the reality of their lives, is creating psychological harm to these young people. I suspect the mental health impacts of these media and political environments will be studied by psychiatric epidemiologists in future years, and I worry what the results will show in terms of the negative impact these conversations have had on public mental health.”

The data from the Netherlands study also did not examine whether the two percent of patients who stopped treatments did so because of regret. According to the authors, it could be that they stopped due to anything from the financial burdens of treatment to being satisfied with the state of their transition.

A Vermonter who secretly lowered the fluoride in his town’s drinking water for years just resigned. ‘I cannot in good conscience be a party to this’

Again one science denier thinking he knew more than the medical community and everyone else. Yes I am upset that the other town officials are claiming that they were accepting the reports because they did not understand they were wrong. There are failures all around here, but this is something that most people don’t understand … This is a population of under 4,200 people. I have mentioned that back in the 1960s when they were charged with abusing me, my adoptive parents moved serval times and ended up in a tiny town with more cows than people. In Vermont. The charges went away. Lucky for me a very understanding gay principal of the of my new school quickly recognized my abuse and worked hard to help me. However if you read the article until he got called out, he did fulfill all his job requirements. Just none of his supervisors knew or understood the report number he was giving them and they signed off on. That is their fault not his. The state people did repeatedly over these years call him and tell him of the deficiencies that violated state requirements. He would then bump the Floride up and then lower it again. But the point is that this is one person who thinks they know more than anyone else anywhere and I should get to decide what treatments others get. Sound familiar? He thinks he has the right and knowledge to decide for all the people on that water system and their children than any medical person or medical peer reviewed accepted study. This is the situation we are fighting today with trans kids and vaccines that simply won’t accept the verified medical science. Hugs

BYLISA RATHKE AND THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

October 20, 2022 at 2:41 PM EDT

Richmond, Vermont.

AP PHOTO/WILSON RING

A town employee who quietly lowered the fluoride in a Vermont community’s drinking water for years has resigned — and is asserting that the levels had actually been low for much longer than believed.

Richmond water superintendent Kendall Chamberlin disclosed in his five-page resignation letter, submitted Monday, that fluoride levels have not been in the state-recommended range for over a decade — instead of nearly four years, as the state had recently disclosed.

Chamberlin said in his letter — in language that at times echoes unfounded reports that have circulated online in recent years — that he doesn’t think the current fluoridation policy is legally required or scientifically sound, and, in his opinion, poses “unacceptable risks to public health.”

“I cannot in good conscience be a party to this,” he wrote.

Chamberlin wrote that he has never received a negative job review, has each day accurately measured the fluoride levels in the water, and has provided monthly written reports that were approved and signed by the town manager and submitted to two state agencies.

He contends that fluoridation is voluntary and that the amounts are not mandated.

While fluoridating municipal water is voluntary, Vermont towns that do “shall control the level of fluoride” within the state’s specified ranges, according to the state’s water supply rule.

The Vermont Health Department said it does not regulate municipal water systems. It communicated frequently with Chamberlin about the target fluoridation, and “Richmond’s monthly operating reports would show signs of improvement, but levels would drop back off again,” according to Robin Miller, the health department’s director of oral health.

“We worked on good faith that all parties were working toward the same goal,” she said by email.

Months after the discovery that the fluoride added to the water was half the amount recommended by state and federal agencies, the town of Richmond said two weeks ago it would raise levels to be within range.

Town Manager Josh Arneson said Thursday that he will review fluoride levels monthly and that the town’s Water and Sewer Commission will also look at the report.

The original news that the fluoride had been reduced for nearly four years — a much shorter time than Chamberlin revealed in his resignation letter — shocked some residents and area doctors, who raised concerns about misinformation, dental health and government transparency, and said it was not a decision for Chamberlin to make alone.

The addition of fluoride to public drinking water systems has been routine in communities across the United States since the 1940s and 1950s. Many U.S. municipalities and other countries don’t fluoridate water for a variety of reasons, including opposition, feasibility and the ability to get fluoride other ways.

Critics assert that the health effects of fluoride aren’t fully known and that adding it to municipal water can amount to an unwanted medication; some communities in recent years have ended the practice.

The American Dental Association notes on its website that fluoride — along with life-giving substances such as salt, iron and oxygen — can indeed be toxic in large doses.

But in the recommended amounts, fluoride in water decreases cavities or tooth decay by about 25%, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reported in 2018 that 73% of the U.S. population was served by water systems with adequate fluoride to protect teeth.

Mar-A-Lago Docs Included Intel On Iran And China – JMG

Mar-A-Lago Docs Included Intel On Iran And China

I tried to get to the Washington Post article but they wanted a subscription. We have far too many things we need to pay for and I couldn’t in anyway find a way to pay for this. Here is the Joe My God post on it. Hugs

OT (my blog I can do this) Ron got a few minutes to talk to Odies’s vet. He went to talk to them on the way to do the grocery shopping and talked to a desk person and they took the information as the doctor was in a something. Totally understandable they were without power for the same time we were, so appointments were backed up and everything else. The vet called Ron back and explained that the disability could be explained by Odie’s diabetes. Because it started before the evacuation, diminished and got better on our trip, and got horribly worse when we got back in the home and started feeding him all the food he wanted. She said that his diabetes could be causing that. So we bought new insulin since his is very sensitive to temperature. Ron got home with the new insulin for him and the instructions and immediately assigned me the job. I gave a little push back as Ron really has much more medical training than I do, and he gave shots at work. His answer was “He loves you; he trusts you, he always acts like I am hurting him and with you he just lays there accepting it, so I don’t want to do it”. I said OK but if I am not available you will need to do it. As a patient that gets very painful injections into my spine and rock-hard muscles, I understand how much it matters if you trust the person doing it. OK back to the regularly scheduled channel. Hugs

Now to the post!

The Washington Post reports:

Some of the classified documents recovered by the FBI from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and private club included highly sensitive intelligence regarding Iran and China, according to people familiar with the matter. If shared with others, the people said, such information could expose intelligence-gathering methods that the United States wants to keep hidden from the world.

At least one of the documents seized by the FBI describes Iran’s missile program, according to these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation. Other documents described highly sensitive intelligence work aimed at China, they said.

Unauthorized disclosures of specific information in the documents would pose multiple risks, experts say. People aiding U.S. intelligence efforts could be endangered, and collection methods could be compromised.

Read the full article.

It really was the worst possible scenario: some of the classified documents recovered by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago included highly sensitive intelligence regarding Iran and China.

Who did Trump show them to and what did he get out of it? https://t.co/3MBBktyVgX
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) October 21, 2022

Trans icons Juno Dawson and Hannah Graf rally against ‘dangerous’ anti-trans public figures

Trans icons Juno Dawson and Hannah Graf rally against ‘dangerous’ anti-trans public figures

One thing people need to understand is I am pro-science, pro-professional training, pro-advances in society. I support things that make life better for people that are data / science driven. I like facts and data. I do not like and actively argue against lies, misinformation, and bigoty / hate. On trans issues the science is in and clearly proven. Yes some details around the edges may need to be worked on for society which gives the anti-trans haters the room to attack, but the medical science has proven that the issue of gender of a person is not connected to biological sex determination at birth. Sex is not limited to a binary of if it dangles it is male and if not it is female. Both biological sex and gender are a spectrum regardless of how loud the deniers who want to go back to easier simpler times will scream. Those are accepted medical facts. Just like decades of climate change denial was false and lost time in fixing a the issue, so is denying the gender / trans issue. At one time being gay was thought a mental illness, but the medical community researched it and realized it was a normal inborn condition. Society adjusted even though some people still fight against our acceptance to this day. The same will be with trans gender people. But now the right / hating bigots have learned how to use social media and right wing media to mass spread misinformation and scary stuff to the public. That is where we are and what I fight. It is like the Covid deniers / vaccine hate myths / Qanon believers / and bigfoot believers they all don’t accept reality and medical science. Instead they believe lies, myths, misinformation and will fight to the death in their belief. They are wrong! One fact no anti-trans person can argue against is that the major medical organizations support affirmative trans gender care and treatment as best practices and there is decades of use of puberty blockers that show they are safe and reversable. These are facts. The haters scream that puberty blockers are unsafe and cause all the evils in life, but the truth is they have been used in some forms since the 1970s and fully accepted by the medical establishment in 1993. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved puberty blockers in 1993. Nearly 30 years ago and that is after the studies were conducted.

I will have a civil discussion with anyone on the subject of trans gender issues. I will not tolerate slurs or repeated misrepresentations, myths, and lies. Once a subject / issue has been addressed it is not to be repeatedly brought up days later. It has been addressed and done. I won’t allow disinformation and will call out fringe unscientific claims of studies or unfounded fake medical claims. I am about truth and science, the real verifiable data with peer reviewed studies, which so far have all confirmed that gender and biological sex is a spectrum, and that trans gender best practice treatment is the affirmative transition treatment given today. Hugs

Juno Dawson, Joanne Harris and Hannah Graf MBE at the PinkNews Awards 2022. (PinkNews Awards 2022)

Trans icons Hannah Graf MBE and Juno Dawson have slammed well-known public figures and for stoking “uninformed and divisive” views against the trans community.

The pair spoke at the PinkNews Awards 2022, supported by joint headline sponsors Lloyds Banking Group and United Airlines, where they presented the Ally of the Year award to Chocolat author Joanne Harris.

In her speech Graf, a former officer of the British Army, detailed how “vital allies are” and shared how she had felt “isolation and fear” while growing up.

“On a positive note younger trans people, particularly today, we have more role models, more support networks, more understanding of who they are than ever before.

“That support is from parents, friends, organisations like Mermaids, they now have somewhere to turn to and feel that little bit less alone.”

Juno Dawson, Joanne Harris and Hannah Graf. (PinkNews Awards 2022)

But despite the increased support available, Graf highlighted that “trans young folk remain under attack”.

“They are bullied at school by their peers, sometimes even their teachers,” she said.

She added that trans children’s families are often attacked for supporting them and the media “continues to debate their very existence”.

“This becomes truly dangerous when it then gets involved with public figures with huge social media followings, most of whom have never talked to a trans child or their terrified parents.”

She said these figures spout “uninformed and divisive” views, and added: “The mainstream media would have us believe these are innocent concerns vocalised for the good of society, but freedom of speech should not be freedom from consequence.

“For example, the sustained and utterly inexplicable Twitter campaign from a certain author – she who who must not be named – against trans youth charity Mermaids of which I’m a proud patron.”

Graf said the impact of the author’s Twitter campaign has been “truly devastating” and led to the abuse of the charity’s volunteers.

She recalled terrible names the team have been called and said “multiple death threats have been made specially at individuals”, with people’s and addresses and phone numbers also being shared online.

“This is to a charity that has been largely run by mothers, fathers, volunteers, all of who are now afraid for their own safety and the safety of their children.

“I’m sorry, but If your words incite these behaviors then you are accountable,” Graf added.

Hannah Graf MBE (l) and Juno Dawson at the PinkNews Awards 2022. (PinkNews Awards 2022)

Bestselling author Dawson noted the mainstream media “like to create a myth that there is some great ideological divide between cisgender women and trans women”.

She explained that the first people she came out to were all cisgender women and highlighted how if they speak up for their trans brothers and sisters they are “shut down and locked out”.

The duo then presented the Ally of the Year award which went to Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat, who said it was “so wonderful” to finally have a “supportive, wonderful, fabulous community that I understand and that understands me”.

PinkNews’ Ally of the Year Joanne Harris. (PinNews Awards 2022)

She said she didn’t feel she deserved the award as she “only tweeted” and said a few things, so she dedicated the award to her trans son, who came out in June.

Harris was subjected to vicious online abuse this year due to her support for trans people, with one academic claiming people with trans children should be forced to “declare” their family relationships.

“I’m still coming to terms with what that means, but I’m so impressed by this young generation of people who are so incredibly articulate about their gender, their sexuality and their mental health.

“These magical children who don’t need a special hat to tell them who they are, but who have actually worked it out for themselves.”

‘I was a target’

In an interview at the PinkNews Awards 2022, Harris said she started talking about trans issues five years ago but didn’t realise there would be so much “push back”

When her son came out as trans Harris realised “not only was he a target, but so was I”.

“So I thought, damn it, I’m just going to come out and say things as they are. I think it’s important that people understand that this ridiculous media-driven culture war narrative, where the trans people are the enemy, is just so dangerous and so divisive and it absolutely needs to be combatted.”

Harris added there are so many powerful and influential people sharing the anti-trans narrative that it is time “that somebody else stood up and spoke the truth”.