On Saturday July 9th Transgender Trend spent the morning in the company of a stellar cast of ground-breaking authors. Our webinar Fact and Fiction celebrated the authors who have written and published books in a cultural climate that is hostile to facts and reality and insistent on their replacement with a fiction, namely the idea of gender identity in place of the reality of sex.
Today, in a cultural climate where it is heresy to define a woman as an adult human female, to even write a book about menstruation for girls becomes a subversive act, let alone books that critique the idea of gender identity or challenge the medical treatment of children.
Books have the power to change the world; in a totalitarian regime books are the first thing to be burned. That’s why one of our main commitments has always been to produce alternative books along with publications parents could take into schools.
The authors who spoke to us have been aware of the censorious strictures on freedom of belief in this area, but have gone ahead and published anyway. They are the pioneers who have made the path easier for those who follow. Because of their work and their courage more writers will take the plunge and dare to publish books that challenge the prevailing dogma of gender identity. Publishers will become braver as they realise there is a big market and demand for these books as more and more people wake up to the damage gender identity ideology is causing throughout society.
This webinar charts the development of a movement, through the books that were published during its course.
It takes you through the first books to challenge the social and medical transition of children, books published for children, books published for clinical professionals and books written for a wider general public.
Our Fact and Fiction webinar is dedicated to J.K. Rowling
Fact and Fiction is now live on YouTube in 5 parts. Watch the full webinar here:
This was a fundraising event and if you enjoyed the webinar and want to support us in continuing our vital work, you can donate in two ways, via PayPal or direct to our bank:
Paypal donation https://www.transgendertrend.com/product/donation/
Bank donation https://www.transgendertrend.com/funding/
We depend on donations to continue our work, which is making a real difference, and we’re very grateful to our supporters who enable us to keep going. Thank you!
Following is a short description of each session:
Session 1: Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans and Professor Michele Moore
Michele Moore and Heather Brunskell-Evans talk for the first time about the response from the Tavistock to the publication of the ground-breaking book Transgender Children and Young People: Born in Your Own Body (2017) and the impact on their lives of the Tavistock’s legal challenge to the second book Inventing Transgender Children and Young People (2019).
Books:
https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-0398-4
https://cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-3638-8
https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9781925950229
Tavistock’s legal challenge:
Heather Brunskell-Evans:
http://www.heather-brunskell-evans.co.uk/body-politics/moral-maze-defining-gender-bbc-radio-4/
Michele Moore:
Session 2: Rachel Rooney, Milli Hill and Phoebe Rose
Phoebe Rose reminds us why it is such a risk to write a book on sex and gender under your own name. Rachel Rooney reveals the impact on her life and career after a sustained campaign of bullying following the publication of My Body is Me and her loss of faith in the children’s book publishing industry. Milli Hill discusses the bullying she experienced when she questioned the term ‘birthing people’ and how she had to hold firm on the language used in her book My Period.
Books:
https://mybodyisme.com/product/my-body-is-me/
https://mybodyisme.com/product/sex-and-gender/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Period-Find-period-positive/dp/1526363372/ref=asc_df_1526363372/
https://www.rachelrooneypoet.com/books
https://www.millihill.co.uk/books/
Rachel Rooney:
https://wildwomanwritingclub.wordpress.com/2021/12/09/rachel-rooneys-exit-interview-from-publishing/
Milli Hill:
https://www.millihill.co.uk/2021/07/10/i-will-not-be-silenced/
Session 3: Sue Evans, Marcus Evans and Dr Az Hakeem
Sue and Marcus Evans outline the history of whistle-blowing at the Tavistock gender clinic for children and adolescents and how the Tavistock & Portman Trust, renowned for its therapeutic tradition, became, in the case of the gender clinic, a gateway for medical treatment. Az Hakeem explains his reasons for writing Trans, and how he felt at the time like ‘the only gender critical person in the world.’
Books:
https://firingthemind.com/product/9781912691784/
https://triggerhub.org/product/trans-pb/
History of whistleblowing at the Tavistock:
https://www.transgendertrend.com/bbc-newsnight-tavistock-gids/
Sue and Marcus Evans:
Az Hakeem:
https://www.transgendertrend.com/interview-az-hakeem/
Session 4: Professor Kathleen Stock OBE and Helen Joyce
In a frank and personal discussion, Kathleen Stock reveals the impact on her life and career after a sustained bullying campaign drove her out of Sussex University and Helen Joyce ponders the more hidden impacts on women who speak out and how it changes you as a person.
Books:
https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Material-Girls-by-Kathleen-Stock/9780349726601
https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Trans-by-Helen-Joyce/9780861543724
Kathleen Stock:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-59084446
https://kathleenstock.substack.com/
Helen Joyce:
Session 5: Q&A
The panel answers questions on conversion therapy and we hear all panellists’ views on whether the gender identity movement is on its way out and the impact of the current political situation.
Transgender Trend and My Body is Me Publishing: Books and Publications:
https://www.transgendertrend.com/schools-resources/
https://mybodyisme.com/product/gender-detransition-a-path-towards-self-acceptance/