How trans activists took over children’s books
A new report exposes how ideology has been smuggled into classrooms and libraries.
Gender identity ideology is not the first religious creed to have seized control over those in power, but it is certainly the most baffling. In our supposedly post-Enlightenment world, it is remarkable to think that so many members of the political and media class have kowtowed to a supernatural belief system which they cannot coherently defend. For the most part, it is clear that very few sincerely hold it to be true.
The concept of the ‘trans child’ has been essential to the proliferation of the lie that it is possible for human beings to be ‘born in the wrong body’. If there are adults who experience a mismatch between body and gendered soul, then it must be the case that the same mismatch was present at birth. It is therefore grimly logical that the more children who can be recruited for the genderist cause, the more valid the claims of trans-identified adults.
In the absence of a shred of evidence for their beliefs, activists have resorted to outright propaganda, which is particularly effective on the young. We have all seen those endless TikTok videos of teachers who proudly boast about their efforts to indoctrinate children into a way of thinking that runs counter to science and reality. It is the precise opposite of their job, of course, but ethics are of little concern to ideologues who are determined to proselytise.
SEEN in Publishing – in collaboration with Transgender Trend and Biology in Medicine – has published a new report into trans activism in children’s literature and library services. It is called Through the Looking Glass, and it outlines in chilling detail the extent to which propaganda for this dangerous ideology has been enabled by some of the most influential custodians of children’s education.
It really has to be read to be believed. The opening endorsement by the Second Children’s Laureate Anne Fine is worth quoting in full:
‘Would it be possible to put together a more damning indictment of the world of children’s publishing than we have here? I doubt it. It is shameful. Shameful.
Publishers will rush to climb on any bandwagon. But this one? Really? This dismal betrayal of young readers. This unthinking capitulation to a biologically unfounded ideology whose false and troubling messages have damaged so many families. Over the last decade, publishers, booksellers, librarians and a bevy of joyless would-be authors became a major conduit for trans-activist propaganda and harmful lies, while others (whose books sold a good deal better) were bullied into silence, or out of their careers, by positively terrifying campaigns of cancellation and spite.
We already know the names of the principal victims. This report has the courage to name, too, the most tenacious of their persecutors. And just as the children’s publishing industry appears to have been the first captured, it is still almost the last redoubt of this dangerous idiocy. Everyone should read this report. What is dispiriting is just how many should be hanging their heads in the deepest self-reproach as they do so. Let us hope that they come away with a renewed understanding that a consensus enforced by malevolent silencing has no place in literature.’
The examples of indoctrination masquerading as harmless storytelling are extremely sinister. It is notable, but not surprising, that awards bodies have rushed to pile accolades on the most culpable authors. For instance, the report mentions that Homebody by Theo Parish shows images of girls displaying their mastectomy scars as a gesture of empowerment. The message is bleak, but the illustrator won a Carnegie medal.
The obvious analogy is perhaps the most instructive. What would we make of a children’s literature industry that produced numberless books encouraging young people to starve themselves to better fit their idealised self-perception? There would be calls for boycotts, if not criminal proceedings. Yet here we have children’s books romanticising the removal of healthy body parts. When this occurs in tandem with medical practitioners who are keen to promote the identical cause, you have the template for child safeguarding failures on an industrial scale. And that is precisely what has happened.
This scandalous situation has been enabled by a collaboration between publishers, librarians, teachers, retailers, and unfortunately some parents too. Those who would cry ‘censorship!’ at concerned adults who have called for such books to be removed from children’s bookshelves do not understand the term they are using. Children are not adults, and are in a continuous process of socialisation. It is no threat to the principle of free speech, for instance, to punish children who swear in the playground. It is no threat to civil liberties to prevent a child from smoking or drinking alcohol. Similarly, age-appropriate curation is not, by any serious definition, a form of censorship.
Highly sexualised books, some of which are cited in the SEEN report, have no place in schools. Likewise, publishers who promote propaganda rather than high quality literature are failing at their job. In her essay as part of the report, Stephanie Davies-Arai mentions the notorious example of Grandad’s Pride by Harry Woodgate, whose first edition included images of a man in leather fetish gear and a woman with mastectomy scars. The book was marketed for children as young as three.
Activists have always known that indoctrination of the young is one of the most effective ways of perpetuating their cause, even if their beliefs are irrational. Political books aimed at very young children have become commonplace. One thinks of Woke Baby (2019) by Mahogany L. Browne, Feminist Baby (2017) by Loryn Brantz, Antiracist Baby (2020) by Ibram X. Kendi, and The Little Girl Who Gave Zero Fucks (2018) by Amy Charlotte Kean. But the examples given by the SEEN report are even more egregious given that they actively promote self-harm.
Schopenhauer was almost certainly right when he wrote that ‘there is no absurdity so palpable but that it may be firmly planted in the human head if you only begin to inculcate it before the age of five’. Those entrusted with the education of the young should keep this in mind, and keep activists out of their institutions. The SEEN report makes for horrifying reading because it exposes the scope of the ideological capture. It is to be hoped that this report is the first step towards remedying the problem.
Through the Looking Glass, published by SEEN in Publishing, Transgender Trend and Biology in Medicine can be read here.
It's absolutely horrifying. Children don't need to know about anything that's connected to an adults sexual orientation or lifestyle.
But let's talk about how many lesbians are OK with double mastectomy and even promote it. How many refer to someone as 'they' without the person ever suggesting that he or she identifies as non-binary.
Here to entertain you I will tell you what I read just yesterday when I was checking the UK national guidelines on HIV screening (I needed something for work). One of the high risk groups which is recommended to have HIV testing is 'Trans men with additional risk factors (such as receptive sex with partners living with HIV).'. I will leave you to meditate on that!