- Pat Reilly releases EP Prince of the Night - 13 November, 2020
- How are our sex lives adapting during lockdown? - 17 October, 2020
- The launch of the first ‘Fashion Run’ supporting the British Fashion Council Foundation and other UK charities - 1 September, 2020
For Pride Month, NSPCC decided it was good PR to fly the rainbow flag. Everyone from Nando’s to the police sports its proud colours this time of year, and pride parades are filled to the brim with corporate sponsors.
That the NSPCC was flying the flag (at least metaphorically – though they include it on their social media) was mostly unremarkable, until their proud credentials were put to the test.
Many organisations are pleased to court the pink pound, but when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is, as it were, some organisations fail to make the cut. It’s sad that the NSPCC has failed so spectacularly, though.
When it came to the crunch, the NPCC failed. The charity doesn’t seem very proud at all. In fact, it seems the organisation is actually led by cowards.
When Monroe Bergdorf was named an LGBT ambassador for the charity, the usual transphobes came out with their army of bots and sock puppets to call foul.
Monroe is a porn model, they said, referring not to adult movies but to a photoshoot Monroe did for Playboy – joining a long list of icons, including Madonna, Drew Barrymore and Marilyn Monroe. One has to wonder whether the usual suspects would get into such a lather about the visible support of these women too – or is it, as some suspect, that it’s only trans women they care about?
Where are the TERFs when it comes to defending women’s reproductive rights in America and Northern Ireland? Where are they when it comes to seeking parity of healthcare for women, many of whom are fobbed off about illnesses where sexism leads to disbelief – ranging from endometriosis to ME?
Yet when it comes to Monroe, they can’t help but stick their oars in. And the NSPCC responded with depressing weakness – dropping Monroe rather than challenging the current transphobic media frenzy which is so harmful to vulnerable kids around the country.
Let’s be clear here: decisions like these do affect our youth. Kids internalise this stuff.
A spokesperson for Monroe responded to being dropped by the NSPCC by saying, she was ‘disappointed by the organisation’s decision’.
‘The wellbeing and empowerment of LGBTQIA+ identifying children and young people is something that I have been passionate about throughout my career as an activist,’ Monroe said.
This shocking news comes on the same day the NSPCC’s telephone advice service Childline revealed it had dealt with 6,000 calls relating to issues around gender and sexuality.
Whether LGBT children will continue to call the charity or not remains to be the seen. But what is clear is that it’s the children who will suffer.
