by Janet Murray, spiked
My Mail on Sunday piece about trans activism in Girlguiding nearly didn’t see the light of day.
Over the weekend, the Mail on Sunday published my investigation into trans activism inside Girlguiding, which raised some uncomfortable safeguarding questions. Specifically, why an individual, who had publicly posted highly sexualised content online, was accepted as a Girlguiding volunteer and later appointed to a 16-member steering committee tasked with advising the organisation on its future. This publicly available material included photographs of the individual engaging in provocative burlesque-style performances while wearing fetish-inspired clothing, as well as a video in which they appeared to simulate sexual acts.
The story has generated considerable attention on social media. But it hasn’t, as you might reasonably expect, been picked up by other national media outlets. To my knowledge, it hasn’t prompted radio phone-ins about safeguarding standards in youth organisations. There have been no outraged newspaper columns demanding answers. No politicians calling for inquiries. I don’t imagine ITV’s Loose Women or BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour will be discussing this story. I was invited on to GB News yesterday evening to discuss the story, but that was about it.
So why is the mainstream media largely ignoring a story that, in almost any other circumstances, would be regarded as an obvious matter of public interest? Because the volunteer in question was a man who identifies as a woman. And too many people in positions of influence now appear more concerned about being labelled ‘transphobic’ than about ensuring that girls and women are properly safeguarded.