The founder of Transgender Trend, Stephanie Davies-Arai, was shortlisted for this year’s John Maddox Prize, a joint initiative of the charity Sense About Science and the science journal Nature, which “recognises the work of individuals who promote sound science and evidence on a matter of public interest, facing difficulty or hostility in doing so.”
We congratulate the well-deserved winners of the Maddox Prize 2018: Professor Terry Hughes and Britt Hermes, for their work in very different areas, coral reefs and naturopathy; both have faced a barage of threats and smears and attempts to discredit their work.
We are enormously grateful to the 2018 judging panel for their decision to shortlist Stephanie Davies-Arai for this prestigious science award. The judges commented on the ‘difficulty of talking about’ the work of Transgender Trend and the challenges in doing so. Our gratitude also goes to Andy Lewis for his nomination of Stephanie; in his own words:
It was an honour to nominate @cwknews for the #MaddoxPrize where she was shortlisted for her work putting evidence-based thinking into educating schools about transgender issues. pic.twitter.com/t5fSStrbng
— Andy Lewis (@lecanardnoir) November 14, 2018
Statement from Stephanie Davies-Arai:
“I am proud and honoured to have been shortlisted for the John Maddox Prize 2018 and I thank the judges for this acknowledgment of my work. I believe that children and young people deserve nothing less than our dedication in ensuring healthcare and education policies which are based on robust scientific evidence. Through Transgender Trend I will continue with my commitment to disseminate clear, factual, research-based information to support parents and educators in making fully-informed choices regarding the children in their care, despite the continued allegations that we are a ‘hate’ group.”
The description of the selection process which we heard at the prize-giving reception on November 14 at the Wellcome Institute in London shows what an incredible honour it is to have been shortlisted:
“136 very serious nominations from 36 countries on subjects as diverse as climate, transgender interventions, vaccines, psychoanalysis and diet. The letters that come with ideas of nominations are moving. As judges we have a very difficult time in ever casting some of those aside because they are incredibly moving and describe lives dedicated to what we would describe as public good and public service, communicating difficult issues at times when people really need to hear them.”
In their article announcing the winners Sense About Science included this comment from the judges:
At Transgender Trend we believe that facts can never be transphobic, that the school curriculum must be science based and that public debate on this issue must be facilitated without fear. The honour of being shortlisted for this prestigious science prize we see as a validation of everyone who is risking defamation, bullying and their very livelihoods by speaking out to establish evidence in the face of ideology.
Nice to hear some good news, and congratulations and thanks for all your work.
Thank-you so much to the courageous Stephanie, and this is well deserved.
I could not have said it better…”facts can never be transphobic.”
With so much vitriol and hatred being directed at those who try to argue for reasoned debate, and to put science ahead of blind ideology, it must take enormous courage to speak out by being the public face of this great website.
A grateful parent of a ROGD teen.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you do!
Huge congrats to a sane and courageous professional! I would just suggest that the strongest criticism for the endless thuggery of the TG activists be reserved for their obedient servants, our spineless government, who follow their bidding in every respect. The former are ex hypothesi hide-bound by their crazed ideology, but the latter should exercise at least a degree of common sense and independent judgement.
Too damn right! Just what is this supposedly ‘conservative’ Government thinking? They’re a bunch of thickies. Donning the mantle of ‘relevance’ they hurry to catch up with the triumphal procession of this new Cultural Revolution. They, and sadly all of us, will find it, not a procession, but a Gadarene stampede to Lunacy.
Good for you, Stephanie. We are so grateful for your bravery and tenacity in calling out this regressive ideology which is harming our autistic and gender non-conforming children and yound adults.
Huge congratulations for your excellent work, so utterly and urgently needed.
You go, girl!
Thank you so much Stephanie for your hard work and tenacity. So important that the logical and science-based approach taken by Transgender Trend has been recognised.
Thank you so much for your hard work and bravery, Stephanie. I am so glad you were short-listed for this prize. As a parent of a child with ROGD, I cannot thank you enough for the work you do.
Twitter @alicehope57
Congratulations on your well-deserved shortlisting for the Maddox prize. I am relieved to see top-level scientists recognising your work, despite the abuse they are bound to receive. Science has always had to defend itself against religion and other ideologies — though perhaps none so unexpected as transgenderism.
Stephanie,
Thank you very much for your dedication on this very important subject. I hope you win the award. It is always very important to get information out to the public especially when the people affected by gender identity are many times children. It is always suspicious when a group tries their best to shutdown any discussion that is in opposition to their opinions.
You deserve to win. It takes immense bravery to speak truth. Government has allowed society to descend into lunacy. My daughter will always be my daughter. She can not become my son! She has become a mutilated deceived female acting out a role because the new trans identity is the latest crazy fashion. Her breasts were removed without parental consent. She will not be able to have children. This is population control targeted at the most vulnerable youth who have not the mental capacity to understand the consequences of their actions.
At long last Stonewalls dictatorial drive is being called out;the worm is turning and the madness of genderising the bodies of young vulnerable people is challenged.
Congratulations on the recognition of brilliant and much needed science based analysis.