Absolutely disgusted that we live in a time where fully grown adults, mainly spurred on by a group of middle-aged cisgender women in positions of power, will launch organised attacks on a charity that offers vital and urgent support for transgender children and their families. This week @mermaidsgender’s phone and online messenger services were overrun by a network of transphobes, with volunteers and staff being relentlessly harassed and assaulted. The abuse got so bad that Mermaids had to close down all access to the support that they offer transgender youth in the UK. I’ve been a patron of Mermaids for the past three years and have witnessed first-hand the crucial work that they do and the relief that they provide for the most vulnerable members of the trans community. Unfortunately, I’ve also witnessed the relentless onslaught of hatreds, lies and sabotage that the charity has been forced to withstand for years on end. Gender identity, much like sexuality is defined by our feelings. It is WHO we are, not WHAT we do. You cannot stop someone from feeling something, you cannot stop someone from being who they are. Preventing kids from questioning their gender, stopping them from being able to talk to someone about their feelings, denying them support or forbidding them from presenting how they feel comfortable, using different pronouns or beginning their social transition – doesn’t stop them from being trans, it doesn’t stop them from being who they are. Delaying support is just delaying the inevitable, whilst suppressing their spirit and gatekeeping their chance at being truly happy within themselves. At best, denying a transgender kid access to healthcare makes them miserable and withdrawn. Too commonly it makes them depressed, potentially leading to self-harm. At worst it drives them to suicide. When access to the UK’s only trans kid’s charity is deliberately sabotaged and overwhelmed, that is not only an attack on a vital service provider and their staff, it is an attack on the wellbeing of already at-risk children. It literally puts the lives of vulnerable children on the line. Solidarity with the staff, kids and families at Mermaids. M x