Mermaids (charity)
Mermaids is a British charity and advocacy organisation that supports gender variant and transgender youth. They also provide inclusion and diversity training. Formation. Mermaids was founded in 1995 by a group of parents of gender nonconforming children, originally acting as a small helpline. They aim to provide support for transgender youths up to 20 years of age. It became a Charitable incorporated organisation in 2015. National Lottery funding. In December 2018, the charity was designated £500,000 in funding by the National Lottery. However, the funding was put under review after criticism of the charity, including by Irish  comedy writer Graham Linehan, who created a post on Mumsnet calling for members of the forum to email their concerns to the National Lottery. In response to this, on 18 January 2019, YouTuber Hbomberguy began a livestream attempting to 101% complete the video game "Donkey Kong 64", with a goal of $500. The stream became popular and raised over $350,000 USD for Mermaids. Among other guests, the stream featured an appearance by American politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. On 19 February 2019, the National Lottery concluded its review into the charity and announced that it would follow through with  the promised donation, stating that "did not find any grounds to withhold the grant.". Harassment of staff. In 2017, Mermaids reported that it and its volunteers had been the victims of online harassment, leading to concerns by parents whose children are supported by the organisation. CEO Green stated that she had been falsely accused of forcibly castrating her transgender daughter, Jackie. Her daughter maintained that "If my mum had not helped me, I would not be here today" and transgender journalist Paris Lees wrote: "Susie Green is saving lives and I wish my parents had known about Mermaids when I  was growing up". Green raised concerns "that the social media backlash may put people off coming to the charity for help." Training. Writing in "The Daily Telegraph", Kim Thomas said that some campaigners, including "Safe Schools Alliance" and "Transgender Trend", have criticised some resources used by Mermaids in trainings on the grounds that they reinforce rigid gender roles, and that they might cause non-conforming children to identify as transgender. On the other hand, "Attitude" quoted Kate Lister as saying that the resource is "a visual representation of gender identifying markers... At no point does anyone suggest children who act  in ways that do not conform to a gender are trans. At no point does anyone suggest gay children are trans." Likewise Mermaids released a statement that they have never encouraged teachers "to state that 'tomboys' should be transgender", and that they do not provide classroom talks or lesson materials for schools, contrary to what had been reported in some newspapers. Media. The 2018 ITV drama series "Butterfly", about a young transgender girl, was substantially informed by Mermaids and its CEO, Susie Green, a consultant on the series who worked with creator Tony Marchant. Marchant and cast members Emmett J.  Scanlan and Anna Friel also met families involved with Mermaids to inform their creative processes. In July 2020, the charity complained that the BBC had no longer included links to themselves on BBC LGBT advice pages, alongside two other organisations. The BBC said that Mermaids was removed after complaints were made about the information it provided, and for impartiality reasons. Government policy. The charity criticised the UK Government's decision to disband the LGBT advisory board without a planned replacement in April 2021, describing the move as "very concerning". Challenge to LGB Alliance charitable status. In June 2021, Mermaids along  with other charities including Stonewall began raising funds to appeal the awarding of charitable status to LGB Alliance, describing the latter group's activities as "denigrating trans people". The appeal is expected to be heard between March and May 2022, although a final date has not been set. Data breach. In June 2019, "The Times" revealed that they had discovered a data breach by Mermaids in which confidential emails had been made readily available through their website. "The Times" stated that these included names of transgender children and their parents, together with contact details and intimate medical information. The newspaper  reported that there were internal emails from the trustees that criticised the leadership by Susie Green, as well as criticism from parents. Mermaids issued a press release on the same day, which acknowledged that a data breach had occurred, and that they had informed the Information Commissioner's Office and had corrected the breach. The press release stated that the breach was limited to internal emails and that no emails to and from families were part of the information leaked; "The Times" disputed this. After an investigation, Mermaids were required to pay a £25,000 fine. Conference at Great Ormond  Street Hospital. In March 2022, Susie Green was due to speak on a panel regarding support for transgender youth, alongside Stephanie Davies-Arai, of Transgender Trend, a "gender-critical" website. The panel would have been part of an event, eventually postponed, for an expected 100 to 150 trainee child psychiatrists organised by Great Ormond Street Hospital and Health Education England. Paediatrician Hilary Cass, journalist Helen Joyce, psychotherapist Stella O'Malley, and academic Lisa Littman would also have participated. Following complaints to the organisers by Mermaids and a trainee doctor, Davies-Arai's appearance was cancelled. Susie Green said: Mermaids "cannot  be a part of a conference that gives a platform to Transgender Trend" and advised the organisers to "stay clear of anyone involved with anti-trans pseudo-medical platforms that have been set up with the sole intention of attacking trans people (especially trans youth) and their healthcare." Davies-Arai said that it "should concern everyone that the NHS has allowed unsubstantiated claims of ‘transphobia’ to influence their decisions."