Friday 14 October 2022 10:04 AM West Yorkshire Police received training from trans charity Mermaids amid calls ... trends now
A police force under pressure to investigate controversial transgender children's charity Mermaids received 'trans awareness training' from the organisation, it has been revealed.
Mermaids, which is based in West Yorkshire, confirmed they provided 'support training' to some officers from the county's police force, as well as others in Merseyside, in 2019.
The revelation comes days after Prime Minister Liz Truss appeared to back calls for the police force to investigate the Mermaids over safeguarding concerns.
Mermaids has faced increased scrutiny in recent weeks amid claims it has sent 'chest binders' to children without parental knowledge.
A member of the charity's board also quit after giving a speech at a conference hosted by an organisation that promotes services to paedophiles.
And the group's online help centre has reportedly also been offering advice to teenagers that hormone-blocking drugs are safe and 'totally reversible'.
In recent years, West Yorkshire Police has launched a number of hate crime probes following complaints by Mermaids staff about comments directed at them over social media.
Police were shown this slide of the 'gender spectrum', which featured a Barbie doll at one end and a GI Joe toy at the other
West Yorkshire Police has come under fire for receiving training from transgender children's charity Mermaids - which is facing calls to be investigated by police over safeguarding concerns. Pictured is West Yorkshire Chief Constable John Robins and Mermaids' chief executive, Susie Green
However, police have refused to comment on whether they will be investigating safeguarding concerns after they were raised by MPs.
The force also declined to say whether it was still receiving training from Mermaids, according to the Telegraph, raising questions over its impartiality.
'Given the serious allegations of child safeguarding failures made against Mermaids in recent weeks, it is imperative that any investigation is seen to be impartial and transparent,' barrister Laura Farris, Tory MP for Newbury, told the paper.
The 2019 training session was opened by then-Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, Julie Cooke.
But images of slides used during the seminar, in February 2019, were ridiculed on social media.
Police were shown one slide of a gender identity 'spectrum', with a Barbie doll at one end, and a GI Joe toy at the other followed by the question: 'Where on the spectrum might your gender identity be?'
Another image, reportedly shown during the training session, said: 'Your sexuality is who you go to bed with. Your gender Identity is who you go to bed as.'
Social media users blasted the police force for attending the training, with one saying: 'For pity's sake - the police are paying for this Barbie and GI Joe twaddle? Why are the police - a publicly paid for body - using this false science nonsense?'
Another person raged: 'This is unbelievably sexist and has NO BASIS IN SCIENCE. Why is public money being spent on this? It’s like funding religious brainwashing.'
While a third added: 'They're just making it up as they go along, total nonsense.'
The fears over the safeguarding concerns raised against Mermaids prompted calls from MPs for the police to step in.
Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons on Wednesday, Tory MP for Penistone and
